Does your builder have the right insurances in place?

One of the most critical questions you should be asking your builder during those initial conversations is, do you have the right insurances in place to cover the works in question?

The two biggest insurances your builder will need to have in place is:

1.       Home Owners Warranty Insurance

2.       Contracts of Work or Construction works Insurance

When is Home Warranty Insurance needed?

Home Warranty Insurance is compulsory under relevant building legislation in most states for builders carrying out residential building work. It covers the homeowner (and subsequent owners) where the contracted building work is incomplete or defective and the builder has either died, disappeared, become insolvent during construction or has failed to respond to a rectification order within 30 days of it being issued.

The cover lasts up to 6 years from completion of the domestic building work or termination of the domestic building contract (6 years for structural defects and 2 years for non-structural). 

Construction works or contract works insurance

So, what is covered by a construction works insurance policy? As the name suggests, the purpose of construction works insurance is to cover building works in progress, should loss or damage occur during construction.