Architect Insurance: Liability, Cost & Quotes From $5

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Wrong designs, accidents in the workplace, business income loss, and lawsuits. Many perils lurk in your work as an architect. This is why you should get architect insurance. In this discussion, you will know:

• The most useful types of architect business insurance

• How much general liability and professional liability insurance to get

• The cost of insurance for architects 

• Which insurance companies provide the best coverage

Also read:

• Civil Engineer Insurance: PI & Quotes From $11

• Interior Design Business Insurance: Quotes From $5

• Landscaping Business Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $8

• Commercial Construction Insurance: Cost, Companies, Types & Quotes From $11

Architect Liability Insurance 

Professional liability insurance and general liability insurance are the most useful. The first, also known as professional indemnity insurance or errors and omissions insurance, covers professional negligence and other related lawsuits. The second takes care of bodily injury or property damage lawsuits. 

Architect liability insurance isn’t required by law. There are no architect insurance requirements and all can practice their craft without getting insured. Nonetheless, it’s best if you get the minimum amount of general liability and architects PI insurance to:

• Easily bid for contracts and close deals

• Assure clients you have the countermeasure if something goes wrong

• Gain the trust of clients

• Satisfy with the requirements of mortgage and property rental or lease

   

So how much coverage do you need? Most who are in the real estate and other related practices get a $1 million general liability and professional insurance for architects. 

Architect Professional Liability Insurance

Limits Of Professional Liability Insurance for Architects

Architect professional liability insurance is always included in the tailored protection for your line of work. 

This policy grants a shield when a claim is filed because you committed or allegedly committed lapses while working for a client. You’ll find architects & engineers professional liability insurance useful when:

• You were conducting an inspection and failed to make corrections even if the building didn’t follow your design

• Your design have significant defects and errors which costed a ton of money for the client to correct

• You gave an incomplete design to a client 

• You failed to finish and deliver the building design on time 

• The client accuses you of not following certain duties and responsibilities stated in the project contract

• You inflated the cost estimates in order to get commission from a partner construction contractor 

Architects and engineers professional liability insurance is underwritten as a claims-made policy or occurrence policy. Everytime you face a claim for professional negligence, breach of contract, violation of good faith and fair dealing, or missed deadlines, this insurance will cover:

• Settlements

• Compensation for punitive damages 

• Defense costs such as attorney fees, investigation fees, court filing fees, etc. 

• Court judgments 

Architects errors and omissions (E&O) insurance is offered as a stand-alone policy. However, some insurance companies underwrite this as part of their general liability insurance.

General Liability Insurance for Architects 

Limits of General Liability Insurance for Architects 

Aside from architects PII insurance, you also need general liability insurance. General liability insurance is a requirement for bidding projects, renting commercial spaces, and getting a mortgage. 

General liability insurance for architectural designers grants a shield when a client, independent contractor, delivery persons, and other third parties file a claim for bodily injury or property damage against you. Use this insurance when:

• You hired independent carpenters for a housing project. One of them gets injured at the workplace and demands compensation

• Your office’s floor has just been mopped. A client entered and slipped, resulting in a broken hip

• Your design was faulty. The structure crashed and surrounding buildings got damaged, not to mention people also got injured. A claim is filed that demands you cover the aftermath of the accident

Claims for bodily injuries and property damage are expensive, and general liability insurance will take care of these costs:

• Medical treatment of the injured third parties

• Refunds for the damaged properties of third parties

• Settlements

• Defense costs 

• Court judgments

You get the best protection by having general liability insurance aside from architects errors and omissions insurance. These policies compliment well and cover each other’s gaps. 

Additional Coverage Included In General Liability Insurance for Architects 

Your general liability insurance doesn’t only cover claims for bodily injuries. It will offer these coverages as an additional layer of protection:

Advertising Injury Coverage

General liability insurance comes with advertising injury coverage. It will protect you against copyright infringement claims. 

If you’re sued for copying another architect’s work or using it without prior attributions, advertising injury coverage will cover settlements and defense costs.

Moreover, this additional coverage in general liability insurance also grants a shield against claims for slander or libel. 

Products And Completed Operations Coverage 

The products and completed operations coverage of general liability insurance will cover expenses if a client files a claim after you completed a project. 

Rented Premises Liability Coverage

Anything that happens to a rented space falls on your shoulder. This is why general liability insurance comes with rented premises liability coverage. It will reimburse the losses of the landlord if the space you’re renting is damaged by fire. 

Commercial Property Insurance for Architects

Limits Of Commercial Property Insurance for Architects

Commercial property insurance protects your office and other business property. 

Most insurance companies allow you to insure an office at home, a commercial condo, or dedicated building. Some are less lenient and don't offer commercial property insurance if you’re working in a home office or at a rented/leased office. 

It’s easy to understand how commercial property insurance for architectural technicians work. Use this to recover losses and resume operations when the office is destroyed or damaged by:

• Fire

• Theft

• Vandalism

• Riot

• Civil commotion

• Malicious mischief

• Sinkhole collapse

• Volcanic action

• Rain

• Winds

• Snow

• Hail

• Impact

• Vehicle

• Aircraft

• Sprinkler leakage

Commercial property insurance provides automatic coverage to the contents of your office. You can use this business insurance for architects to recover losses in case distance lasers, cameras, laptops, desktops, 3D printers, HVAC, and other valuables become lost or damaged due to the perils above. 

Commercial Auto Insurance for Architects 

Limits of Commercial Auto Insurance for Architects 

Commercial auto insurance takes care of costs if an accident happens while you’re driving to meet a client, inspect a project site, or join a seminar. It will also mitigate the cost of vehicle maintenance. A typical commercial auto policy in building designer insurance offers these:

Auto Liability Coverage

Commercial auto insurance has auto liability coverage. And it will account for these expenses if you cause a vehicular accident:

• Medical treatment of the victims

• Funeral costs of the victims

• Property damage of the victims

• Defense costs if the victims decide to sue

• Court judgments

Physical Damage Coverage

The physical damage coverage of commercial auto insurance takes care of vehicle maintenance expenses. You get this as a comprehensive policy or collision policy. 

Comprehensive physical damage coverage will cover expenses if your vehicle is damaged by fire, theft, vandalism, weather, and other covered perils. 

Collision physical damage coverage will cover repair expenses if your commercial vehicle got damaged because of a vehicular accident. 

Note that both types of physical damage coverage doesn’t grant protection against rollovers and normal wear and tear. 

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage

Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will cover your medical treatment when the driver who caused the vehicular accident isn’t insured or doesn’t have enough auto liability insurance. Coverage also applies to your passengers. 

Medical Payments and Personal Injury Protection Coverage

Medical payments and personal injury protection coverage takes care of your medical treatment and the passenger’s medical treatment when:

• You caused a vehicular accident

• You got involved in a vehicular accident caused by another driver

Personal injury protection coverage is more comprehensive than medical payments coverage, because it also takes care of lost wages, rehabilitation, medication, and hospitalization. 

Rental Reimbursement Coverage

Rental reimbursement coverage will cover vehicle rental expenses or public transportation costs while mechanics are repairing the car you’re using for architecture work. 

Workers Compensation Insurance for Architects 

Workers compensation insurance might not be very useful considering that you’re an independent architect working alone. 

However, it’s important to get this architect business insurance if clerks and architectural associates are working with you. Here are some situations where you’ll find this insurance useful:

• An employee is surveying a construction site to make adjustments to the design. The employee trips on something and falls from a height

• An employee is in charge of a renovation project. While inspecting the place, the employee contacts a bare live wire and gets electrocuted

When a part-time or full-time employee needs money for a work-related injury or disease, workers compensation insurance allows your business to cover these costs:

Medical Treatment

Workers compensation insurance will pay for the first aid treatment or emergency medical care of your employee who sustained a work-related injury or disease. It will also pay for private EMT services. 

Hospitalization

Workers compensation insurance pays room, food, nursing, and other hospital bills if an employee needs to stay in the hospital to receive adequate medical care. 

Medication 

You can use workers compensation insurance to get the money an employee needs for his or her occupational disease or injury. 

Rehabilitation

Workers compensation insurance allows you to cover rehabilitative care costs, so that your employee can recover fully and resume working. 

Lost Wages

Workers compensation insurance covers lost wages if an employee files a leave because of a work-related injury or disease. While on workers comp, the employee will receive a weekly allowance equal to two-thirds or 67% of the average weekly wage. 

Death Benefits

If your employee dies due to a work-related injury or disease, workers compensation insurance will take care of funeral costs and provide an allowance to dependents on your behalf.

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Architects

Limits of Employer’s Liability Insurance for Architects

Your workers compensation insurance will automatically come with employer’s liability coverage in most cases. You can choose to remove this from the policy. 

But we suggest you don’t. Employer’s liability insurance will cover settlements, defense costs, and court judgments if an employee files a claim and accuses you of negligence or failure to provide compensation for a work-related injury or disease. 

Architect Insurance Cost

The average architect insurance cost is $34 per month or about $408 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance policy. Here’s another table showing how much the recommended insurance companies charge for their architect insurance:

Architect Professional Liability Insurance Cost

Expect to pay $43 per month which comes to an annual cost of $516 a year. A lot of factors come into play when determining the architect professional liability insurance cost, such as claims history, number of employees, whether or not you work with subcontractors, and more. To enjoy cheaper architects PI insurance cost, we recommend you do these things:

• Ensure that contracts have indemnification clauses in your favor

• Have clients sign-off deliverables

• Work with an in-house or outside legal counsel to determine the risks of a project contract