Resin Flooring and Industrial Floor Coating Contractors Insurance
Resin flooring contractors lay epoxy, polyurethane, methyl methacrylate and other seamless systems in warehouses, food factories, kitchens, laboratories, car parks and plant rooms. The finished floor is expected to carry forklift traffic, resist chemicals, meet hygiene standards and stay safe underfoot, which puts a lot of weight on preparation and application that nobody can see once the job is done.
Much of the work happens in live premises over weekends or shutdown periods. If a floor fails to cure, blisters or delaminates, the client may lose the use of a production line, a loading area or a commercial kitchen while it is ground off and relaid, and the losses that follow can be far larger than the value of the flooring contract.
The materials themselves bring hazards that ordinary flooring does not. Some systems release strong vapours during application, polyurethane products can contain isocyanates, and preparation by shot blasting or diamond grinding produces dust. Odour from curing resin can also taint food, packaging or stock held nearby.
We can help you work out how your insurance should respond to the type of systems you lay and the premises you work in. That typically means liability cover built around third party property and stock, alongside cover for your equipment, the work in progress and, where you advise on system selection, professional indemnity.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Delamination, blistering and failed cure
Resin bonds to the substrate only when the slab is properly prepared and dry enough. Residual moisture, contamination or a missing damp proof membrane can lead to osmotic blistering or debonding months after handover. The remedy is usually removal and replacement across the whole area, and the argument turns on who tested the slab and what the readings were.
Odour taint of food and stock
Some resin systems, particularly MMA, give off a strong odour while they cure. In food production, cold stores, bakeries and supermarkets, that odour can be absorbed by products and packaging, leading to stock being written off. Taint is a recognised loss pattern in this trade and is usually managed through ventilation, segregation and choice of system.
Slip accidents on finished floors
A smooth, glossy coating can be dangerously slippery when wet or contaminated with oil. If somebody falls on a floor you laid, the claim may question whether the specified aggregate was used and whether the surface achieved a suitable slip resistance, which is commonly measured with a pendulum test value. Records of the specification and any testing carry real weight.
Isocyanates, solvents and dust
Polyurethane systems can contain isocyanates, a leading cause of occupational asthma, and epoxy components are known skin sensitisers. Preparation by grinding and shot blasting creates respirable dust that may contain silica. These are long tail employers' liability exposures, and COSHH assessments, respiratory protection and health surveillance are what underwriters look for.
Business interruption to the client
Resin floors are often laid in a tight window over a weekend or factory shutdown. When the floor is not ready for traffic on Monday, or has to be taken up, the client may claim for lost production, idle staff and missed deliveries. Whether a liability policy responds depends on whether there has been physical damage, which in many of these disputes there has not.
The cover we arrange
We arrange insurance around the work you carry out, the contracts you take and the sites you work on. The cover available will depend on the individual risk and the terms offered by insurers.
Public and products liability
Third party injury and property damage arising from your work, including damage to stock, plant and finishes, and injury on floors after handover. Industrial and food sector clients commonly ask for £5m or £10m. Products liability matters here because a slip claim may be brought long after the floor was laid.
- Damage to client stock, plant and finishes
- Odour taint, depending on the policy wording
- Slip claims on completed floors
- Limits typically £5m or £10m
Employers' liability
Employers' liability is a legal requirement once you employ people, and can be arranged where required, subject to the policy terms. In resin flooring the underwriting focus is on chemical exposure, respiratory protection and dust control rather than height.
- Legal requirement once you employ people
- Isocyanate and sensitisation claims
- Dust from grinding and shot blasting
- Labour only subcontractors
Professional indemnity
Worth considering wherever you recommend a system, specify thicknesses or aggregate, or advise on moisture and substrate condition. If the floor fails because the wrong system was chosen for the chemicals or traffic it faces, that is a professional question rather than a workmanship one.
- System selection and specification
- Slip resistance and finish recommendations
- Substrate and moisture advice
- Claims made basis, continuity matters
Contract works
Covers the floor in progress and materials on site before handover. Resin components are temperature sensitive and expensive, and a batch spoiled by fire, flood or vandalism before it is laid is a real cost.
- Floor works before handover
- Resin, hardeners and aggregates on site
- Fire and flood damage to the works
- Materials in transit to site
Plant and equipment
Shot blasters, diamond grinders, dust extractors, mixers and moisture meters. Preparation plant is high value and often hired, so both owned equipment and hired in plant, with continuing hire charges, need to be considered.
- Owned grinders and shot blasters
- Hired in plant and hire charges
- Dust extraction and mixing equipment
- Theft from site and vehicles
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- The resin types you use: epoxy, polyurethane, MMA, cementitious urethane or others
- The sectors you work in, especially food, pharmaceutical and healthcare premises
- Whether you work in live premises with stock or production nearby
- How you test substrates for moisture and whether results are recorded
- Whether you specify systems or install to somebody else's specification
- How slip resistance is specified and whether it is ever tested
- COSHH assessments, respiratory protection and health surveillance in place
- Five years of claims, including any floor failures settled directly
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Resin types and application methods
Thin film epoxy coatings in a warehouse sit differently from MMA systems in food premises or polyurethane screeds in a chemical plant. The products you use and the vapours they produce shape both the liability and employers' liability rating.
Sectors and live premises
Food, pharmaceutical and healthcare work raises the value of the stock and processes around you. Working in empty new build units is a more contained risk than working beside a running production line.
Design responsibility
Contractors who select systems and advise on substrates carry a professional exposure that pure installers do not. Underwriters will want to know which side of that line most of your work falls.
Health controls and claims history
Documented COSHH controls and health surveillance improve the employers' liability picture. A history of failed floors, even where settled without insurers, suggests a preparation problem and is priced accordingly.
Conditions and exclusions to consider
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Relaying your own floor
If a coating delaminates or fails to cure, grinding it off and relaying it is a rectification cost and is generally not covered. The policy may respond to damage the failure causes to other property, but the floor itself is your responsibility.
Efficacy and performance
A floor that does not resist the chemicals, traffic or temperatures it was sold for has failed to perform rather than been damaged. Many liability wordings exclude that, and it becomes a professional indemnity matter only where you were responsible for the specification.
Financial loss without damage
Lost production because a floor was not ready on time is a pure financial loss. Liability policies generally respond to physical damage, so an overrun with no damage to anything else is unlikely to be covered unless the wording extends to it.
Contamination and taint
Some wordings exclude or limit contamination and pollution, and odour taint can fall into that territory. If you regularly work in food premises, check exactly how your policy treats taint before relying on it.
Common questions
What insurance do resin flooring contractors need?
Typically public and products liability at £5m or £10m for industrial and commercial clients, covering damage to stock, plant and finishes as well as injury on floors you have laid. Employers' liability is a legal requirement once you employ people and can be arranged where required, subject to the policy terms. Contract works and plant cover protect the job and your preparation equipment, and professional indemnity is worth considering if you recommend systems or advise on substrates.
Am I covered if a resin floor I laid starts to blister?
Not for relaying the floor itself, which is treated as putting right your own work. If the failure damages something else, such as stock or machinery, that damage may be a liability claim. Where the blistering is caused by moisture in the slab, the question becomes who tested the substrate and what was recorded, which is why moisture readings and photographs before application are worth keeping on every job.
Does my policy cover odour taint in a food factory?
It depends on the wording. Some policies treat taint of stock as property damage and respond, while others exclude or limit contamination. If you work in food production, cold storage or retail, tell your broker which systems you use there and ask specifically how taint is handled, because a written off batch of product can be far larger than the flooring contract.
Who is responsible if someone slips on a resin floor?
That depends on the cause. If the floor was laid to the client's specification and has since been contaminated or poorly cleaned, the occupier is usually in the frame. If the specified aggregate was left out or the surface did not achieve the slip resistance agreed, the claim may come back to the installer. Products liability on your policy is what responds to injury after handover, and records of the specification and any pendulum test results help your defence.
Do I need to tell my insurer we use isocyanate based products?
Yes. Isocyanates in polyurethane systems are a recognised cause of occupational asthma, and that is a long tail employers' liability exposure. Insurers will want to know the products used, the respiratory protection provided and whether health surveillance is in place. Failing to disclose it could cause problems if a claim is made years later by a former employee.
Is the client's lost production covered if a floor is late?
Usually not on its own. Liability policies generally respond to physical damage and the losses flowing from it. A floor that is simply not ready on time, with nothing damaged, leaves the client with a financial loss that is normally a contractual matter. Read any liquidated damages or consequential loss clause in the contract carefully, because the policy may not stand behind it.
How do I get a quote from True Risk Solutions?
Call 01304 262880 and speak to a broker, or email info@truerisksolutions.co.uk with what you do, what you need cover for and a phone number with the best time to call, and a broker will call you back. We need a phone number to quote, because the cover and the price depend on questions that are quicker to answer on a call than by email.
Speak to a specialist who understands your industry
Tell us about your business and the work you undertake, and we will come back to you with cover options built around it. Call 01304 262880, or email us with a phone number and the best time to call and a broker will ring you back.