Civil & Infrastructure Contract Works Insurance

It's contract works (also called construction all risks) cover written for civil and infrastructure projects - roads, earthworks, drainage, utilities, subdivisions, bridges and civil site works. It insures the permanent and temporary works, plus materials, against physical loss or damage during construction. Civil jobs sit in a higher-premium commercial segment with their own underwriting, so they're generally placed through specialist construction underwriters rather than online or generalist channels.

It can, but it's underwritten carefully. Where your contract makes you responsible for existing structures, pavements or live underground services you're working over or alongside, cover for those can usually be arranged - often by endorsement and subject to specific conditions. The underwriter assesses proximity, the condition of what's there, and the cost of reinstating any damage. Disclose these exposures up front, because they shape both the terms and the price.

It depends on the contract. On larger civil and infrastructure projects the principal often arranges a single project policy covering all parties to the works, so you may not need to place your own contract works cover for that job. On other contracts the responsibility sits with you to arrange contractor-arranged cover, either as a single-project policy or under an annual policy that picks up each job. Check the insurance clause in your contract, and if it's unclear, send it to us and we'll tell you what you actually need to place.

The construction of the works is covered, but design responsibility is treated separately. Contract works responds to physical loss or damage to the works - it is not a substitute for professional indemnity covering your design liability. On a design-and-construct civil contract you generally need both: contract works for the physical build, and professional indemnity for the design element. We can structure the two so they sit together. See our design and construct insurance page for how the design side works.

Not automatically. Contract works protects the physical project, materials and structures you're building. Public liability protects you against claims from third parties for injury or property damage arising from your work - which matters a great deal on civil sites near roads, services and the public. They cover different risks and are often arranged together. Our contract works vs public liability breakdown explains how the two work side by side.

There's no flat figure - a civil premium scales with the total contract value, the project duration, excavation depth, your responsibility for existing services and structures, and whether there's a design element. Higher contract sums and longer programmes move you into a higher commercial tier. Rather than quote a civil-specific number, the honest answer is that it's rated job by job. Our contract works insurance cost guide sets out the published Tank ranges for single-project and annual policies as a starting point, and we price civil work on the specifics of your contract.