Course of Construction

Protect Your Work Site While it's Under Construction

Your existing commercial insurance does not provide protection for building construction. In fact, your property policy specifically excludes property while under construction.

The underwriters must have full details of the project including soft and hard costs:

• Soft costs include additional expenses over the project, such as architect/engineers fees, consulting fees, interest, insurance, advertising fees, taxes and administration fees.

• Hard costs encompass the actual value of all property at the construction site, while in transit or stored off site.

The construction of Building “X” adds a significant exposure to risk. Insurance needs to properly insure this in order to protect:

• Themselves
• The patrons of the business
• The general public
• Materials on site
• Materials being installed
• Contractors and subcontractors.

Introduction to Course of Construction (COC) Policies

Want to learn more? Watch the full video below.

The Course Of Construction Insurance and Wrap-Up Liability Policies

WHAT DOES YOUR COC POLICY PROTECT?

COC policies cover buildings under construction or major renovations. Your COC protects:

• The building project
• Materials that become part of the project while on site
• Materials transported to the site
• Installation floater coverage (preassembled components before they are brought to the project)

Examples of perils insured by your COC: fire, lightning, windstorm, hail, vandalism, theft.

THERE ARE 2 MAIN TYPES OF COC POLICIES:

1. Single project policy
   • Requires a separate policy for every project
   • Can typically be issued on the same day (large commercial policies may take additional time)
2. Annual reporting basis policy
   • A yearly estimate of the number of projects, and the value of these projects. This policy is issued with a deposit premium upfront. As projects begin throughout the year, they are reported to the insurance broker and at the end of the year, there is an additional premium based on the actual value of the projects.
   • Can typically take 10-30 days to complete. However, once the policy is in place, all that's needed is an email or call to let your broker know the start and finish dates of your projects.
     
     

WRAP UP LIABILITY

Similarly, you have a need for Wrap-up Liability. This provides liability coverage on an entire project for all parties involved. As the project owner, you are liable to all parties with an interest in the project, including yourselves, the contractor, the subcontractors etc.

A benefit of a wrap-up liability is that it provides a single limit of insurance for the project. This can eliminate gaps and overlaps on coverage.

For more information, watch our video covering COC policies.