Structural Steel and Steel Erection Insurance
Structural steelwork combines three separate risks that most contractors only face one of. There is a factory, with machinery, stock and fire exposure. There is a design element, because connection design is usually the fabricator's responsibility even when the frame was designed by somebody else. And there is erection, which means lifting heavy loads over other people and relying on temporary stability until the frame is complete.
The lifting element is where most of the serious claims sit, and it is also where the contractual position is least understood. Whether a crane arrives as a contract lift or as hired plant with an operator changes who is liable for the load, the lift plan and the consequences, and firms routinely assume the crane company carries a risk that the paperwork has placed on them.
We arrange cover for structural steel fabricators and erectors, including firms doing both and firms doing only one, and the placement usually needs to reflect a workshop, a design responsibility and a site operation at the same time.
What actually goes wrong
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Lifting operations
Dropped or swinging loads cause the most serious incidents in this trade. Liability turns on the lift plan, the appointed person, the slinging and the ground conditions under the crane, and on whether the lift was a contract lift or a hired in crane under your control. Outriggers punching through a slab or an undetected void is a recurring cause.
Temporary stability during erection
A partially erected steel frame is stable only because of temporary bracing, and its removal before permanent restraint is in place has caused frame collapses. This is a temporary works design responsibility, which means it engages professional indemnity as well as liability cover.
Connection design
The consulting engineer designs the frame; the fabricator very often designs the connections. That is a design responsibility that many fabricators do not recognise as one, and a connection failure is a design claim rather than a workmanship claim.
Workshop fire and machinery
Fabrication involves welding, cutting and grinding around steel stock, oils and consumables. A workshop fire takes out plant, work in progress, client owned material and the ability to trade, so business interruption matters more here than for a site only contractor.
Falls and work at height
Steel erection is worked at height by definition, frequently on unprotected steel before decking or edge protection exists. Employers liability exposure is correspondingly high and underwriters look closely at method statements and competence.
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, including damage caused by dropped loads and by cranes. £10m is common because a lifting incident on a live site can involve several parties at once.
- Third party injury and property damage
- Damage from lifting operations
- Limits typically £5m or £10m
- Contractual liability extension
Employers liability
Legally required and included as standard at £10m. Underwriting focuses on work at height controls, slinger and signaller competence and the split between workshop and site labour.
- Legally required, £10m as standard
- Erectors, slingers and signallers
- Workshop and site staff
- Occupational illness including welding fume
Contract works and erection cover
Covers steel in transit, on site awaiting erection and during erection itself, which is the period of greatest exposure. Damage during lifting is a common claim and needs to be within the section rather than excluded from it.
- Steel in transit to site
- Material stored on site
- Damage during erection and lifting
- Temporary bracing and works
Professional indemnity
Needed for connection design, temporary works design and any delegated design portion. Most fabricators carry design responsibility whether or not their contract calls it that, and it is written on a claims made basis so continuity matters.
- Connection and temporary works design
- Delegated design portion
- Claims made basis, maintained after completion
- Limit usually specified by the contract
Workshop property and business interruption
Covers the fabrication premises, machinery, stock and work in progress, plus the loss of income if a fire stops production. Client owned material in your workshop needs specific attention, since it is not your property but is in your care.
- Buildings, plant and machinery
- Steel stock and work in progress
- Customers' goods in your care
- Business interruption following damage
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Turnover split between fabrication, erection and design
- Whether you fabricate, erect, or both, and whether either is subcontracted
- Maximum erection height and maximum member weight
- Whether cranes are contract lifts or hired in with operator under your control
- Who designs connections, and whether temporary works design is done in house
- Execution class and factory production control arrangements
- Workshop details: construction, fire protection, stock values, machinery values
- Welding procedures and qualifications held
- Five years of claims, including any lifting incidents and near misses
What moves the premium
Where the price actually comes from, and which parts of it you can change.
Erection height and member weight
The two figures that most affect the erection element. A firm erecting single storey portal frames is a different proposition from one erecting multi storey frames in a city centre.
Lifting arrangements
Contract lifts transfer more of the risk to the crane company and are viewed accordingly. Firms that use hired in cranes under their own appointed person carry more, and need to demonstrate competence for it.
Design responsibility
Whether connection design is done in house, by a consultant, or passed back to the engineer materially changes the professional indemnity element and how it is rated.
Workshop fire protection
Construction of the building, separation of hot work areas, extinguishing provision and stock arrangement all affect the property rate, and a workshop fire is the largest single loss most fabricators face.
Certification and procedures
Factory production control, welding procedure qualifications and erection method statements are treated as evidence of competence, and this is a class where competence evidence moves terms.
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.
Hired in cranes under your control
Where a crane is hired with an operator but the lift is under your direction, liability for the load and for the lift sits with you rather than the crane company. Standard wordings may not extend to the crane itself or to loads being lifted, so this needs checking rather than assuming.
Damage to the goods being lifted
A load dropped during erection may be excluded from public liability as property in your care, custody or control. Whether it falls to contract works instead depends on the wording, and the gap between the two sections is exactly where a dropped beam lands.
Design and fitness for purpose
Public liability does not respond to design failures, and professional indemnity does not respond to fitness for purpose obligations. A contract that guarantees performance rather than reasonable skill and care creates an obligation that is real and uninsured at the same time.
Hot works conditions
Welding, cutting and grinding both in the workshop and on site attract hot works conditions requiring permits, clearance of combustibles, extinguishers and a fire watch after work ceases. Breach in a fire claim is normally fatal to it.
Height limits
Erection above a stated height may be restricted or referred. Given that steel erectors work at height as their normal activity, the stated limit needs to match reality rather than a typical job.
Common questions
What insurance do structural steel erectors need?
Employers liability at £10m, which is a legal requirement and included as standard. Public liability, usually £10m given the lifting exposure. Contract works covering steel in transit, stored on site and during erection. Professional indemnity for connection and temporary works design, which most fabricators carry responsibility for whether or not they realise it. And if you have a workshop, property and business interruption cover including customers' goods in your care.
Who is liable if a crane drops a load, me or the crane company?
It depends entirely on how the crane was engaged. Under a contract lift, the crane company plans and supervises the lift and carries the liability for it. Under a hired in crane with operator, the crane and operator come under your direction, you supply the appointed person and lift plan, and the liability for the lift and the load sits with you. Firms frequently assume the first arrangement while the paperwork says the second, and that assumption only gets tested after a load has come down.
Do steel fabricators need professional indemnity insurance?
In most cases yes. Even where a consulting engineer designs the frame, the connection design is very commonly the fabricator's responsibility, and connection design is design. So is temporary stability during erection. Public liability responds to injury and damage; it does not respond to the cost of a design being inadequate, or to the cost of taking down and re engineering a frame. If your contracts include a delegated design portion, professional indemnity is not optional.
Is steel damaged during erection covered?
It should be, but which section responds depends on the wording and this is a genuine gap in some policies. Steel being lifted is arguably in your care, custody and control, which is a standard public liability exclusion, so it needs to fall within contract works or an erection extension instead. A dropped beam is a foreseeable event in this trade, so it is worth confirming which section would pay for it before you need to know.
What are hot works conditions and do they apply in the workshop?
They apply in both the workshop and on site. A hot works condition typically requires a written permit, combustible materials cleared or protected within a set distance, extinguishers immediately available, and a fire watch maintained for a period after work stops, commonly sixty minutes. In a fabrication workshop full of oils, consumables and stock, and on sites with other trades' materials nearby, breach of these conditions during a fire claim will usually defeat the claim entirely rather than reduce it.
Do I need business interruption cover for a fabrication workshop?
It is worth serious consideration, because a fabrication business cannot easily relocate. Machinery has lead times, the workshop is fitted out for the work, and contracts continue running while you cannot produce. Property cover rebuilds the building and replaces the machines; business interruption covers the income lost while that happens and the additional costs of working from somewhere temporary. The indemnity period needs to reflect realistic machinery lead times rather than an optimistic estimate.
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.