Plasterers, Dryliners and Rendering Contractors Insurance
Plastering and drylining are high volume, low margin trades where the claims are rarely dramatic and consistently annoying. Water gets into floors that were finished last week. Plaster splashes ruin joinery. A tower gets moved with somebody on it. None of these individually threatens a business, but the frequency drives renewal terms harder than a single large loss would.
Two parts of the trade carry more serious exposure. Fire rated partitions and ceilings are certified systems, and where the specification or the installation is wrong the consequence is a compliance failure rather than a snag. And external rendering, particularly render applied over insulation, overlaps with the external wall system questions that have made cladding so difficult to insure.
We arrange cover for plastering, drylining and rendering contractors, and the two things worth being clear about are whether you install fire rated systems and whether any of your rendering is applied over external insulation.
What actually goes wrong
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Water damage to finished work
Plastering is a wet trade carried out in buildings where other trades have already finished. Spilled water and washings running through new flooring, into ceilings below and across finished joinery is the routine claim, and on a fit out with expensive finishes it stops being routine.
Dust
Sanding plaster and cutting board generates very large quantities of fine dust, which spreads through occupied buildings and into ventilation systems. Beyond the cleaning claims, silica in some materials makes this an occupational health exposure with long tail employers liability consequences.
Fire rated partitions and ceilings
Fire resisting walls and ceilings are tested systems, and their performance depends on board type, layers, fixings, joint treatment and correct sealing at junctions and around services. Penetrations left unsealed by following trades are a recurring defect, and the liability question afterwards is who was responsible for the line of fire resistance.
External render failure
Render cracking, debonding or discolouring produces disputes that are usually about efficacy rather than damage. Where render is applied over external wall insulation the exposure changes character entirely, because the system becomes part of the external wall and attracts the scrutiny that goes with it.
Working at height and on towers
Ceilings, stairwells and external render are worked from towers, hop ups and scaffolding. Tower related falls, including from towers moved while occupied, are a persistent cause of serious injury in this trade.
The cover we arrange
Policies are put together around how you work. Employers liability is included as standard wherever you employ anyone.
Public liability
Third party injury and property damage, which in this trade mostly means water and dust damage to other trades' finished work and to occupied premises. £2m for domestic, £5m for commercial and main contractor sites.
- Water damage to finished work
- Dust damage and cleaning costs
- Injury to occupants and other trades
- Limits typically £2m, £5m or £10m
Employers liability
Legally required and included as standard at £10m. Manual handling, falls from towers and long term dust exposure are the claims that matter.
- Legally required, £10m as standard
- Falls from towers and access equipment
- Manual handling of boards
- Dust related occupational illness
Contract works
Covers your work in progress: boarded and skimmed areas not yet handed over, and materials on site. Plasterboard is bulky, easily damaged by water and frequently stolen.
- Work in progress before handover
- Board and materials stored on site
- Water and impact damage
- External render before curing
Tools and equipment
Mixers, spray plastering equipment, towers, hop ups, laser levels and hand tools. Spray plastering rigs are high value and worth scheduling separately.
- Mixers and spray plastering rigs
- Towers, hop ups and access equipment
- Hand and power tools
- Vehicle conditions apply overnight
Professional indemnity
Worth considering where you advise on or specify fire rated systems or render systems rather than working strictly to a given specification. Increasingly requested on commercial fit out subcontracts.
- Fire rated system specification
- Render system selection and advice
- Claims made basis
- Often required by fit out subcontracts
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Turnover split between plastering, drylining, external render and screeding
- Whether you install fire rated partitions, ceilings or encasements
- Whether any render is applied over external wall insulation
- The maximum height you work to, externally and internally
- Whether you work in occupied buildings
- Dust control measures, including on tool extraction and water suppression
- Whether you use spray applied plaster or render
- Access equipment used, and whether erected by you or others
- Five years of claims, particularly water damage
What moves the premium
Where the price actually comes from, and which parts of it you can change.
Internal or external
Internal plastering and drylining is a contained risk. External render adds working at height, weather exposure and, where insulation is involved, a materially different risk category.
Fire rated work
Installing certified fire resisting systems introduces a compliance exposure and often a request for professional indemnity, particularly on commercial fit out.
Occupied premises
Working around tenants and finished spaces raises both the water damage and the dust exposure, and is the main reason commercial fit out plastering rates above new build.
Dust control
On tool extraction and water suppression are viewed positively, mainly for the long tail employers liability exposure rather than the property one.
Water damage history
The most frequent claim in the trade, and priced on frequency. A contractor with a documented procedure for isolating and containing water on finished floors presents better than one without.
Conditions and exclusions that catch this trade out
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Faulty workmanship
Re skimming a wall that cracked, or re rendering an elevation that debonded, is your cost. What is insured is damage that failure caused to other property. In a trade where most disputes are about the finish itself, this excludes a large share of what customers complain about.
Efficacy of render systems
Where render fails to perform, weather, crack or adhere as promised, that is an efficacy question and is generally excluded. It becomes a professional indemnity matter only where you specified the system rather than applying a specified one.
External wall insulation
Render applied over external insulation forms part of an external wall system, and many wordings now treat that differently from ordinary render, with exclusions or height restrictions similar to those applied to cladding. This needs declaring rather than being described simply as rendering.
Dust cleaning without damage
Cleaning costs where there is no actual damage can fall outside cover, since liability policies respond to damage rather than to inconvenience. In occupied premises this is a common source of disagreement.
Property in your care
The room or area you are working in may fall within the care, custody and control exclusion. Since water damage frequently starts in exactly the area you are working, it is worth knowing where your wording draws that line.
Common questions
What insurance do plasterers need?
Public liability at £2m for domestic work and £5m for commercial or main contractor sites, covering water and dust damage to other trades' finished work. Employers liability at £10m, a legal requirement and included as standard wherever anyone works under your direction. Contract works for your work in progress and materials on site. Tools cover including any spray equipment and towers. Professional indemnity is worth considering if you specify fire rated or render systems.
Am I covered if water from my work damages the floor below?
Damage to finished flooring, ceilings and other trades' completed work is normally a public liability claim, and it is the most common claim in this trade. Two qualifications: the immediate area you are working in may fall within the care, custody and control exclusion, and repeated claims of this kind affect renewal terms sharply. Containment on finished floors and isolating water supplies before leaving are the practical controls, and they matter more than the policy wording.
Do dryliners need professional indemnity for fire rated partitions?
Increasingly it is asked for on commercial fit out subcontracts, and it is worth having where you do more than follow a drawing. Fire resisting partitions are tested systems whose performance depends on board type, layers, fixings and correct sealing at every junction and service penetration. If you select or advise on the system, or make judgement calls on detailing, that is a professional activity. If you install strictly to a specification produced by others, the exposure is much lower, though the installation quality question remains.
Is external render insured the same as internal plastering?
Not quite. External render adds working at height, weather exposure during curing, and a much higher rectification cost if an elevation fails. More importantly, render applied over external wall insulation is treated by many insurers as part of an external wall system, which brings it within the restrictions applied to cladding, including possible height limits and exclusions. If any of your render is over insulation, say so specifically rather than describing it all as rendering.
Does my insurance cover cracked or blown plaster?
No. Putting right your own defective work is not insured, whatever the cause. If a skim coat cracks or a render debonds, re doing it is a business cost. Insurance responds to damage the failure causes to other property, so if falling render damages a car or injures somebody, that is a claim. This distinction accounts for most of the disappointment in this trade, because customers naturally assume the policy covers the thing they are complaining about.
Are dust cleaning costs covered?
Sometimes, and it depends on whether there is actual damage. Liability policies respond to damage, so dust that has damaged equipment, stock or a ventilation system can be a claim. Dust that has simply made a space dirty and needs cleaning may not be, because inconvenience is not damage. In occupied commercial premises this is a frequent source of disagreement, and the practical answer is containment and extraction rather than relying on the policy.
Talk to somebody who knows the trade
Tell us what you actually do and we will come back to you with cover options built around it.