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13 August 2020
Construction insurance and Covid-19
Site shutdown scenarios
If you are required to shut down your site for a period of time due to Covid-19 restrictions, follow the steps below to reduce the risk exposure for your business.
1. Secure sites and premises as well as practicable:
- protect against weather and the environment;
- protect against unauthorised access, theft and vandalism (consider hazards such as stacked material that could injure unsupervised visitors who might access the site);
- remove materials, tools and office equipment which may be attractive to thieves off-site if possible or into secure storage;
- arrange appropriate security measures for sites and premises.
2. Ensure all payments due during the shutdown are paid or arrangements are made with your supply chain.
3. Check if you will be able to undertake essential work - and where applicable plan to carry out essential work that may be required ie
- call outs;
- storm or environmental incidents;
- triage of essential work requests;
- risk management for essential work;
- Supply chain and equipment for essential work.
Guidance
It is important for businesses in the professional services sector of construction and building work (engineering, design, quantity surveying and project management) to continue work on current and forward projects if work can be completed remotely from home. This means you can be ready to resume work on current and new projects as soon as restrictions are lifted.
For businesses engaged in essential construction and building work:
- Plan for appropriate staff, equipment and supplies to be available as required;
- Plan a system to triage work – do not complete work unless it fits the definition of essential construction and building work;
- Ensure safe methods of work are established to protect staff completing essential work, including social distancing, appropriate personal protective equipment and enhanced sanitation;
- Check that staff completing essential work are not ‘at risk persons’ or are not residing with ‘at risk persons’ in respect to Covid-19;
- Ensure core business processes are maintained (payroll, debtors, creditors, orders for forward supplies) and stay in contact with advisors and finance providers;
- Keep in contact with staff and workmates to support each other and watch out for those who may need help.
Insurance considerations
When projects are shut down, sites are required to be secured for the full period as per our guidance above. As with any period of shutdown during the normal course of the year such as Christmas / New Year, there are obligations as an insured to adhere to. These obligations are:
- Taking precautions – please make every effort to take steps to prevent loss, damage or delay and comply with all statutory requirements and recommendations of manufacturers
- If your policy is expiring during the shutdown period speak to your broker who will arrange an extension;
- If you are an insured under another party to the project’s project specific policy (such as a Principal Arranged policy) we advise you reach out to this party to understand if there are any additional insurance implications of the shutdown
We’re here to help
One of our responsibilities as a broker is to ensure you have all the information you need to make informed decisions about the risks your business faces. With the effects of Covid-19 being felt in a number of ways by our clients across the country, we wanted to share some proactive advice to help you protect your business during this difficult time.
We hope you find the information above helpful, if you have any questions please talk to your construction insurance brokers.
Further information