There is much at stake with larger building projects. Consequences are high when execution does not align with expectations. The case featured this month is saturated with misaligned, unmet expectations and this caused serious problems.

What was the loss? Well, it revolved around how a very tall, tower was built. Part of the construction included welding heavy steel plates. The tower developed wrinkling, began leaning and had to be rebuilt. The builder experienced $900,000 in labor and material costs to make things right with its client. In turn, the builder sought reimbursement from their Commercial Property insurer. The builder sued after its claim was rejected.

The heart of their dispute was the applicability of a policy exclusion barring coverage for faulty workmanship. Two levels of courts made rulings, click below to see their reasoning and decisions regarding whether the loss was due to poor workmanship.

Please click on the link to get more details on the court case.

Contractors face serious risks as they perform various projects. The larger the project, the higher the complexity caused by, for instance, a greater use of sub-contractors and a higher level of dependency among project tasks.

The priorities of minimizing costs and adhering to aggressive timelines can be a dangerous combination. It can produce results that are the opposite of what is intended. Rushed work is often poorly done which can create unwanted re-working. Doing tasks again adds to labor and material costs. They may also facilitate serious accidents.

Regardless the amount of pressure, it is critical that projects be performed meticulously in order to reduce problems. Contractors have to be picky about their crew and their work skills. They must be just as careful with addressing their coverage needs.

Click here to see information about types of liability policies that builders rely on to handle their, often, expensive operation risks. It is from the Contractors – Construction Category of Coverages Applicable found in Advantage Plus.

Few things are as valuable as making your work simpler. Being an insurance professional certainly means having a great deal of knowledge about what is needed by various clients. However, there are limits to what one knows.

When servicing clients, such as contractors, it’s important to be efficient and effective. The best move for a professional who recognizes a need for help…is to seek it.

Click here to see a sample from a tool that may be used to find quality sources for placing difficult coverage. It is from The Insurance Marketplace found in Advantage Plus.

Entities in charge of modest projects can learn a great deal from the practices of those involved in major construction efforts. Above we mentioned that too much emphasis on expenses and oversight can add to problems during projects. But that warning does not promote operational anarchy, rather it is about achieving balance.

The correct amount of control/oversight is essential. An approach to emulate may be found in a method that is rather holistic, a wrap-up. It refers to a single policy that covers the main interests involved in big construction projects (owner, contractor, subcontractor, suppliers, etc.) providing general liability and workers compensation insurance. While an actual program is not meant for smaller projects, you may find value in this method which includes insights into meeting expense and coverage objectives.

Click here to see an article that discusses wrap ups. It is from Emarketing found in Advantage Plus.