Construction and Developers
Developers and businesses in the construction industry must be sure to understand the types of exposures that can halt their operations, create injury, fall short of compliance and regulation requirements, as well as protect themselves against builder’s risks and employment-related claims. If unaddressed, the severity of these exposures could devastate the business and its reputation. Construction management personnel who wish to build a sturdy risk management framework to protect their organization and the parties associated with their operations must understand how to effectively transfer their risks to the appropriate third parties responsible for their actions. This framework should include loss prevention, risk mitigation and a process for seeking recourse. This holds true especially when assuming responsibility for the negligent acts of others.
Reviewing the insurance coverage provided by contractors and subcontractors to obtain verification of their coverages to make sure that work being performed does not expose the business to losses for which the business would be held responsible is a must. Failure to do so can add catastrophic costs to the project. Each construction project presents its own, and usually unique, exposures to loss, so it is crucial to identify those exposures to loss, especially when they are unique to the project, and therefore secure insurance coverage for the appropriate level of risk. Often enough, inadequate insurance protection supplied by contractors or other parties to a developer leads to complex claims, where the developer may be held liable for its role in failing to ensure compliance with insurance requirements required by a lender. Further, special attention should be given to the obligations delineated in third-party agreements for maintaining insurance requirements, monitoring third-party compliance and evidencing coverage to protect the developer or owner. Therefore, developers must ensure that third-party insurance policies, where available, include coverage for both construction defects for ongoing and completed construction.
Specific insurance requirements should be established and monitored on an ongoing basis by designating a key person within the Client’s organization to implement and manage a Certificate of Insurance program. Furthermore, by communicating with ICA, this person can address possible uncovered exposures by continually providing updated information to ICA to help in the determination of whether these other exposures to loss are in fact properly addressed. ICA provides specialized services for the construction industry that include Certificate of Insurance Program Management and Third-Party Claims Management, among other services germane to ICA’s construction industry Clients who have found such Services essential to support their regular operations.
The following testimonials from Construction Industry clients show how a strong risk management foundation allows ICA’s clients to build the business they know best:
“ICA was retained for years by my former company, and when we were considering finally purchasing an Environmental Policy to protect our numerous properties from pollution claims, I knew exactly where to go … I could not have possibly spent the time to review, nor would I have had the background to identify the ramifications of the differences between the types of policies. That is why we bring in the experts, to take the burden from us and to assure the answers are clear, correct and comprehensive. ICA is worth every cent, and then some!” – Developer/Management Industry Client
“… Construction Co., Inc. is properly insured for the most reasonable price. You continue to teach me more about the insurance industry than I originally thought I ever wanted to know. All of it is helpful information and only serves me better in performing my function here.”
– Construction Industry Client
Contact ICA for a comprehensive list of client references.