Construction All Risk

Sometimes, during construction, things may go wrong. In order to avoid disputes between parties who are bound to each other for the duration of the construction period, a Construction All-risk (CAR) insurance is usually entered into on behalf of the contractor and his sub-contractors.

Although this has been a subject of a lot of litigation for many years, it still frequently leads to interesting questions for our lawyers, such as:

• Does it concern material damage or ‘normal’ wear and tear?
• Does it concern damage to the construction work (section 1) or damage to the client’s property (section 3)?
• Which research costs are covered by the research costs clause?
• Is damage caused by contamination covered by the policy (e.g. asbestos contamination)?
• Who is and who is not insured under the insurance policy?

When answering these questions, not only knowledge of the law is required, but also a good understanding of the factual situation. In order to gain such knowledge, we often work together with clients, their experts and specialists in multidisciplinary teams. From the research, our lawyers distil the relevant legal facts, as is the case for the other participants in their field of expertise. This not only requires knowledge of this specific insurance market but also experience.