Archive for category: contractor insurance

Technology is changing the construction industry landscape. General contractors, subcontractors, project managers, owners, developers, architects, and engineers are better connected today than ever before.

Smart technology such as tablets and smartphones, apps, and software solutions are saving contractors time, improving organization, and fostering better collaboration on projects.

More and more industry professionals are adopting construction technology in their day to day business operations. Apps for mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones are leading the way for the integration of new construction technology on job sites.

Here are seven of the best, most downloaded, productivity-enhancing apps you should be using in your daily operations.

1. Bid City

A construction app that gives general contractors the inside scoop on new private projects is CMD’s BidCity. Find actionable project and company details on your iPhone or iPad. BidCity provides project name, scope, as well as bidder and participant contact information. BidCity’s map based layout makes finding local construction projects easier than ever.

Free to download for iPhone and iPad.

2. Construction Manager

Can an app help you cut through the piles of paperwork and help your business manage, edit, save, and share data instantly and effortlessly? It can if it is Construction Manager. This app can:

• create on-site estimates for construction and repair projects
• record and track important construction processes throughout the day
• keep daily reports and maintenance logs
• share timesheets
• quantify materials, labor, and equipment needed to complete projects

Construction Manager even includes calculators to help you determine room size, and calculate the amount of concrete and paint you need for your project. A reviewer said,”This app is so easy to use in the field and has saved me lots of time. I would highly recommend it.”

Construction Manager is available for iPhone, iPad, Android Tablets and Android Smartphones.

3. PlanGrid

Collaboration between contractors and architects reaches new highs with PlanGrid, an app that allows users to integrate project plans, specs, and photos. Uploaded files are automatically synced with all team members that use the app. A punch list feature allows remodelers and designers to track project progress. Users can take photos and pictures to tasks, as well as upload PDF drawings.

PlanGrid was designed to be used in the field, and to perform fast and reliably. More than half a million users have uploaded over 20 million plans and blueprints to PlanGrid.

Available for iPhone, iPad, Android Tablets, and Android Smartphones.

4. Fieldwire

Project managers and contractors can use Fieldwire to collaborate with team members while in the field. Access plans and blueprints, share photos and punch lists, and access it all quickly on your mobile device. Fieldwire will optimize blueprints to display them instantly regardless of resolution. The blueprint viewer allows superintendents to plan inspections in minutes with hundreds of inspection items pre-loaded into checklist templates. Record issues or punch list items when you are on a walkthrough with a client, and upload photos to share instantly with subcontractors. Report safety concerns instantly.

Fieldwire is available for iPhone and iPad.

5. BuildCalc

Spend less time doing your estimates and calculations and more time building with this advanced construction calculator. BuildCalc offers advanced features and functions that will allow you to quickly determine a number of industry specific calculations.

• Enter the room dimension, area or length and receive the number of drywall sheets needed for your sheet size.
• Calculate material needs with the roof, drywall, or masonry functions to determine how much siding, panels or sheets you need.
• Generate simple or complex stair designs.
• Miter and bevel angles for simple and compound miter cuts with results for both miter saws and on-the-stick protractor marking.

Reviews for BuildCalc commend its versatility, effectiveness, and easiness to learn. “Being a second generation home builder and having labored through the repetitive layout calculation of stairs, rails, rafters, etc., I was amazed at how fast and easy this program made the normally redundant calculations.”

BuildCalc is available for iPhone, iPad, Android Tablets, and Android Smartphones.

6. Construction Master Pro

Another advanced construction calculator, Construction Master Pro includes full trigonometric functions to calculate complicated project problems, offers solutions for completing layouts, bids, plans, and estimates, and provides dimensional math conversions. Features include:

• Area and volume calculators
• Compound miters calculator
• Right angle tools
• Roof calculators (bundles, squares, pitch, plan area etc)
• Decimals to the 100ths
• Easy editing if you make a mistake

One user said, “I use the original Construction Master Pro in my remodeling business for rafters, stairs, squaring foundations, etc., so this was the first App I downloaded to my iTouch! I just started to use it, but it looks and feels like the real thing– no learning curve.”

In addition to being available for iPhone, iPad, iTouch, Android Tablets, and Android Smartphones, Construction Master Pro is also available for Windows devices, as well.

7. Safety Meeting App

Meet the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s required meeting laws with this app that covers 34 trade types and stores records electronically. OSHA requires contractors to conduct Safety Meetings on a regular basis and record the attendance, so Safety Meeting App allows your workers to take part of this training from their phones, tablets, or computers.

Instill a strong safety culture and avoid frivolous lawsuits while saving time on the worksite. Each meeting outline helps you comply with a specific OSHA safety training regulation, such as hazard communication, PPE, ladder & tool safety, lockout/tagout, and even driver safety topics.

Safety Meeting App is available for iPhone, iPad, Android Tablets, and Android Smartphones.

Our Expanded List of Bonus Apps!

We’ve expanded our list with even MORE construction apps that have contractors buzzing.

7 (More) Construction Technology Apps Every Contractor Is Talking About

We’ve been on the lookout for even more must-try apps for your smartphone and tablet. Here’s what we found.

#1: Latista For Construction

This is a quality control and field management app built specifically for construction companies.

With the Latista app, you can:

• Access documents electronically from the field- including PDFs, images, Word docs, PowerPoints, and Excel files.
• Take your 3D BIM models into the field.
• Create and manage punch lists.
• Conduct inspections from your ipad.

Latista can help you organize your quality control procedures- including workflows, electronic forms, and checklists. You can manage your safety program from your mobile device by scheduling and tracking inspections, and notify responsible parties when there’s an issue. There’s plenty more useful features for you to discover with the Latista construction management app, too.

Available for iPhone and iPad.

#2: BuilderTrend

BuilderTrend is a cloud-based construction management app that supports you through each phase of a project. BuilderTrend app allows contractors to work better with their employees, subcontractors, and customers.

How does BuilderTrend work with you for the entire duration of your project?

• Pre-sale process: use the app to manage bid requests, proposals, and automate your email marketing.
• Project management: create daily logs and to-do lists. The app can send messages, update schedules, and create a punch list.
• Financial management: Use the app to keep track of your budget, payments from customers, and purchase orders. It even has a timesheet feature for your employees.
• Customer management: The app has a client portal that lets you get client reviews, send surveys, and create comment threads to stay in touch with your customers.
• Your monthly subscription gets you an unlimited number of users, so you can make sure all of your employees are working with the same program.

BuilderTrend is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android

#3: Contractor Estimate and Invoice

This popular app from Joist Inc. has been downloaded from the Google Play Store over 100,000 times, and for good reason. Contractor Estimate and Invoice allows you to create estimates, invoices, record payments, and manage your projects from any of your devices.

This job has features that can prove useful for both one-person handyman operations or large contracting businesses. Some of our favorites are:

• Create a list of commonly used items/materials.
• Calculate material and labor costs for estimates and invoices.
• Get signatures on client contracts on the spot.
• Keep track of customer payments.
• Export everything to your accounting program.

Free to download for iPad, iPhone, Android, and desktop computers.

#4: Job Estimate and Repair Order

Snappii’s Job Estimate and Repair Order is designed to save you time on your paperwork by letting you create quotes, work completion reports, and other documents directly on your mobile device.

Who doesn’t love a little less paperwork?

The app includes the following forms:

• Job Estimate
• Repair Order
• Change Order
• Progress Report
• Work Completion

You can also use the app to aid in project management by using it to evaluate the amount of work that needs to be done, track repairs made to equipment, and report on work progress. All of your forms and data from the app can be easily exported to PDF and Excel reports.

Even better, Snappii’s apps are all customizable, so if you like the basic function of the app but need a few more features, you can customize it yourself, or have Snappii customize it for you.

Free to download for iPad, iPhone and Android.

#5: SmartBidNet

This app is designed to streamline your relationship with your subcontractors. The free SmartBidNet mobile app works with their paid internet application. The internet program and mobile app allow you to manage your communication with your subcontractors from one convenient dashboard.

The app’s features include:

• Create and customize a subcontractor database.
• Create pre-qualification questionnaires to screen your subs.
• Organize and share project documents and plans.
• Send communications, bid invitations, and RFIs to subs.

The price of the software itself depends on your needs.

Available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and your desktop computers.

#6: FieldLens

This app is a communication tool designed specifically for construction companies. FieldLens allows you to stay in contact with your colleagues conveniently, so that you always know what’s going on on your job sites.

How can FieldLens help you stay in touch?

• Assign and track tasks.
• Create and view issues directly on your project plans and drawings.
• Automate your daily report.
• Post small updates throughout the day to keep your coworkers in the loop.

To make connection a bit easier, the app works completely offline. That means no more losing touch when you’re out on a rural job site with no wifi access. Best of all, if your company has 3 users or less connected to the app, it’s free. If you’d like to connect more users than that, FieldLens has Pro and Team Packages starting at $25/month.

Free to download for iPad, iPhone and Android.

#7: Harmon.ie

Harmon.ie is built specifically to help contractors collaborate with their colleagues. You could say this app promotes harmony.

Harmon.ie allows users to access and update important documents from anywhere, enabling you to collaborate with your supervisors, employees, and subs whether you’re in the office or not.

With this app, you can:

• Access business emails, even without wifi or data.
• Read and edit documents from your mobile device.
• Collaborate in real time with coworkers in the field.
• Eliminate the need for paper documents, and thus the risk of losing important paperwork.

Free to download for iPad, iPhone and Android.

If you need help with contractor insurance, let us know. We represent the best contractor insurance companies.

It’s time for your contractor insurance policies to roll up their sleeves, pull on the work gloves, and really get to work. With these tips, you can get the most out of your insurance, save on your premiums, and patch up any holes that may be lurking in unread clauses in your coverage.

#1. Get More Out of Your General Liability Coverage

Did you know that you may be able to add an endorsement to your general liability policy to cover you for faulty workmanship claims? In the past, contractors had very few options to protect themselves if their completed work or work process led to a claim. Liability policies generally contain specific clauses that exclude coverage for faulty workmanship. But thanks to a unique Faulty Workmanship endorsement available for select general liability policies, offering contractors up to $10,000 in coverage for these claims. The best part? Faulty workmanship protection can be added to your policy at a price so affordable, you’d be silly to pass it up.

#2: Choose the Right Policy When Filing Claims

When multiple policies offer overlapping coverage, such as builders risk and general liability, choosing the right one for your claim can be tricky. Let’s say you are at fault for an incident at your project site that results in structural damage. On one hand, you are covered under the builders risk policy for unexpected events that occur during the course of construction. On the other hand, you have a contractor general liability (CGL) policy that covers you for property damage that you cause.

In situations like this, many contractors choose to file a claim against their own CGL policy, rather than against the project’s builders risk, in an attempt to avoid any kind of friction between the general contractor or owner who took out the builders risk policy. But what you may not realize is that a general liability claim may cost you more in the long run. Talk to your insurance provider to carefully explore your options for workplace damage claims, and you may be able to keep your premiums affordable in the future.

And this leads us to our next tip…

#3: Know What Your Policy Does (and does not) Cover

Do you understand the exclusions in your insurance policies? Take the time to review and understand what your policies do (and don’t) cover. That way you can compare the gaps in your coverage to your current risk management strategies and available cash flow. You don’t need to be an insurance expert (that’s why you have us in your corner!); but you should have a basic understanding of what your policies cover, and what situations or scenarios they exclude.

If you see some glaring holes in your current contractor insurance protection, you can take steps to patch them up. Maybe that means including an umbrella policy to help increase the limits of your existing policies in the event of a large claim. Maybe that means adding an endorsement to expand your coverage on a specific policy. If you want to get the best results from your insurance, you need to know what your policies cover.

Conversely, if you notice a bunch of coverage or endorsements built into your policy for risk that you don’t encounter, talk to us about ways removing those may reduce your premiums while still providing you a safety net.

#4: Protect Yourself from the Most Common Claim Scenario

What do more than 20% of all insurance claims have in common? They are a result of burglary or theft. Annual estimates for loss from equipment theft are in the ballpark of $400 million, and some estimates are quite a bit higher than that. And the newer your equipment, the more attractive it is to the sticky fingered criminals who covet it; more than 75% of all stolen equipment is less than 5 years old.

You can put your contractor insurance to work protecting your tools and equipment in three ways:

• Commercial property insurance: Protects your tools and equipment stored at your place of business from burglary or theft.
• Builders risk insurance: Protects your tools and equipment from burglary or theft from a project site.
• Inland marine insurance: Protects your tools and equipment from burglary or theft when you are transporting them to and from storage, project sites, or even your home.

If you’re the unfortunate victim of the most common construction crime, tool or equipment theft, these insurance policies can kick in to cover the cost of replacing them. From your favorite hand tools to your high dollar, high powered tools; to the generators and machinery that you’ve invested in; contractor insurance can cover your equipment in just about every situation.

#5: Combine Policies

Shopping around for the best price on your insurance can be a good idea to make sure you are getting the right coverage at the right price. But watch out for one of the pitfalls of price shopping; parceling out your policies to different brokers. Sometimes, the cheapest insurance can cost you big.

A better way to save money on your insurance is to combine multiple policies with the same broker or insurance provider. Often times, you can receive a discount on each policy when you combine them. Want to see even more savings? Put those risk management techniques to work, because the longer you go without an incident or claim, the lower your premiums can be. Everyone wants to save money. Combine the insurance policies you need with an insurance provider you can trust, and you can save more cash without sacrificing your coverage.

#6: Check In Regularly

When was the last time you had a chat with your favorite insurance provider? Go ahead and pick up the phone. Checking in regularly with your insurance broker can help you keep the right insurance coverage working hard to protect your business. You may have bought or sold a vehicle, fired or hired employees, or changed the scope of work that you perform. But if your broker doesn’t know about the changes that happen in your business, your policies may not adequately protect your current operations. You may even be paying more than you need to for your insurance coverage– you’ll never know unless you contact your contractor insurance specialists and check in.

#7: Advertise Your Coverage

The reason you have insurance is to protect your business and assets from unexpected surprises and financial losses. But did you know that you can put your insurance to work for you to get more customers and help bring in more income, too? Your insurance coverage is a business asset. It shows that you are serious about your business, that you are a professional, and that you can pay for an accident, injury, or unintended occurrence that happens while you’re doing your work.

Advertise your insurance coverage on your website, social media profiles, blog, truck advertising, and business cards. Let clients know that you are insured, and happy to provide a certificate of insurance as proof of your coverage. Your insurance coverage gives you a leg up on the uninsured competition, so be sure to let prospective clients know it.

Waivers of subrogation are clauses found both in construction contracts and in contractor insurance policies, so this term may sound familiar. But if you aren’t exactly sure what a waiver of subrogation is or what it does, don’t worry. We are going to take you beyond the basics of your contractor insurance to give you a clear picture of what all this subrogation waiving is about.

Why Does My Liability Insurance Have a Waiver of Subrogation Clause?

First off, let’s talk about subrogation. Subrogation is assuming the legal right to collect a debt or damages on someone else’s behalf. Which really means to step into someone else’s shoes and collect payment in their name.

Here’s an example of how subrogation works within the confines of an insurance policy:

You are a subcontractor using a forklift to move a large piece of equipment on a jobsite. The load was improperly secured by an employee of the general contractor, and the equipment falls onto a neighboring home. Your insurer pays out for the property damage claim, but wants to recover their losses from the general contractor, whose employee was at fault for improperly securing the load. If legal action is needed to recover damages, your insurance company may bring that claim in your name, just as if you were bringing that lawsuit against the general contractor yourself.

Another example of subrogation can be found in an auto accident. Let’s say your insurance company is paying to have your truck repaired after you were involved in an accident (which wasn’t your fault). After your insurance company pays for your repairs, it “steps into your shoes” and makes a claim against the driver who was at fault for the accident. Your insurer uses the right of subrogation to bring a lawsuit against the other driver in your name.

In both instances, your insurance company is taking action in your name to collect damages that is has paid out for your claim. That’s subrogation.

So why would a waiver of subrogation be included in a construction contract or insurance policy?

A waiver of subrogation clause is often included in a contract to reduce the amount of claims and lawsuits among parties.

In other words: “The risk stops here.”

Let’s say you are a general contractor entering into a construction contract along with the project owner and design firm. Your contract contains a waiver of subrogation clause, which will prevent the insurers from various lawsuits, counter-suits, and cross-suits in the event something goes wrong during the construction process.

Not all insurance policies allow waivers of subrogation, because they limit an insurer’s ability to receive reimbursement after they pay out a claim. The policies where you are generally able to add a waiver of subrogation include:

• General liability insurance
• Product liability insurance
• Commercial auto insurance
• Workers’ Compensation
• Professional liability insurance (E&O)

Waiving subrogation rights often makes things easier when multiple parties are working together on a single project, but they limit your insurance provider’s ability to be reimbursed on a claim, and may not be available to add a waiver to every policy.

If your policy allows a waiver of subrogation endorsement, it can only be added before a loss occurs. You won’t be able to do so after a loss. Before you enter into a construction contract that requires a waiver of subrogation, you may want to review your insurance policy carefully, or consult with your insurance provider. When it comes time to sign a contract, best practices is to fully understand what you are signing away — including your insurer’s right to subrogate.

Liability insurance is the foundation of your contractor insurance coverage. It’s the most basic coverage, the one you simply can’t do business without, and the policy which you can build on to further reduce your business risks and strengthen your protection.

If it’s been awhile since you’ve visited the issue of liability, or are just starting off as a new contractor, here’s a return to the basics of liability insurance: what it is, what it does, and why you need it.

What is Contractor Liability Insurance?

Liability insurance protects contractors from the risks of potential lawsuits that could arise from accidents, injuries, illnesses, or damages to other people. Liability insurance is a safety net for your construction business, because no matter how much you prioritize safety on a project site, there’s no way to tell if or when someone might sue you.

Why Contractors Need Liability Insurance Coverage

Let’s face it, you work in a high-risk industry. And you often times take this risk straight to your clients. If you specialize in new construction projects, there’s a risk that your finished product could cause an injury down the line. If you specialize in renovations or repair work, you could be taking dangerous tools and construction equipment to the home of a client, putting them in harm’s way.

And you never know when a passerby might trip over an extension cord attached to your favorite hand tool, or what kind of injury someone could sustain if you happened to drop a roofing shingle from ten feet overhead.

Risks to other people (third-party persons, aka non-employees) are part of doing business for any independent contractor or small business owner. But when you are a contractor, subcontractor, or construction business owner working, the risks intensify.

General Liability for Contractors

Contractor general liability insurance, which is also known as commercial general liability insurance, offers coverage for the kinds of potential lawsuits that you could face as a contractor.

Did you know? The average cost of a trip and fall accident to a business owner or independent contractor is $20,000.

That’s one client who trips over a 2×4 that you’ve left on the ground, one passerby who gets tangled in an extension cord, or one person who slips on a plastic sheet left carelessly on a slippery laminate floor. Whether you are actually at fault or not, could you afford the costs of defending yourself in court?

When you have general liability insurance, you don’t need to have tens of thousands of dollars on standby to cover your legal defense.

What General Liability Covers

When you think of what your general liability covers, think “damage and injury to other people”. Third-party persons are those who aren’t your employees; they are your clients, the people you do business with, or even complete strangers.

What kind of damage is covered to these “other people”? General liability covers:

Property damage

You accidentally run your excavator through the neighbor’s fence, and across their (newly installed) landscaping. Oops.

Bodily Injury

Your ladder falls on a client who is walking past, leading to a broken leg, missed work, and some pretty hard feelings.

Illness

The paint that you selected for the interior of residential home is causing your client to experience dizziness and headaches which are preventing them from going to work.

Reputation Injury

You proudly put up a website to advertise your services as a renovation specialist, and blog about the other guys in town that clients should steer clear of. They find out, and lawyer up.

Copyright Infringement

The marketing flyer you are distributing is a little bit too similar to a competitor’s, and they aren’t flattered by the imitation.

In all of these situations, the “other person” (third-party) could very well bring a lawsuit to your front door.

Your liability insurance is there to pay for the costs associated with a third-party lawsuit, such as

• Lawyer’s fees
• Evidence expenses
• Settlements
• Judgements
• Miscellaneous court fees

Your liability coverage may even cover the costs of time away from work if you need to meet with lawyers or be in court.

What General Liability Doesn’t Cover

Your liability insurance isn’t a catch all. There will be situations where general liability isn’t enough. Your liability insurance may not cover:

• Injuries or illness to your employees
• Damage to your own property
• Economic damages (financial losses) to a third-party
• Data breaches or identity theft

General Liability Insurance vs Professional Liability Insurance

There are two different liability policies that you may want to consider as a contractor, general and professional. General liability doesn’t cover a financial loss or economic damages to a third-party, but that’s exactly what professional liability insurance does.

Let’s say that you completed a residential project for a client, constructing a small dwelling detached from the main house. Your clients have big plans for this tiny cottage; they want to rent it out to the vacation-crowd that swarms their town every summer and fall. Unfortunately, you and the client have had problems every step of the way with this project.

Progress slows to a crawl as you argue over change orders and costs, then stops altogether. Before you have a chance to smooth things over and get the project back on track, the client terminates your relationship, and brings in a new contractor to finish the job. Your client also phones a lawyer, because the project wasn’t completed in time for the summer tourist season, and the new contractor is going to charge him even more than you did to finish the job.

When you client thinks his economic loss is a result of your work, the lawsuit would only be covered by a professional liability policy. General liability wouldn’t protect you from the high cost of a lawsuit for your clients alleged financial losses.

Liability insurance is part of doing business as a construction professional. It offers you protection from a risk that you often can’t do anything about: the risk of a third-party lawsuit. There may be ways you can try and avoid general liability claims, but there’s no guarantee you can always prevent accidents from happening.

As a contractor, there are various insurance policies that you can put to work to protect you from losses, but your contractor insurance coverage will always start with general liability. Depending on the scope of work you do, how large your business operations are, and what other assets you have to lose, you probably want to consider adding additional policies to your liability policy. But with the strong foundational protection of liability coverage, you know your business is protected from the uncertainty of “other people”, and the strong likelihood that one day a lawsuit may find its way to you.

Warning: your construction business is at risk. But you are a construction business owner, so you already knew that. And if you are a sole proprietor, like many other construction business owners, business risk puts your personal assets on the line.

Luckily, you don’t have to live in fear that a risk could bring your business to its knees, or lead to financial ruin. A little knowledge of risk management practices and the right construction insurance policies can offer you the protection you need.

How do you use risk management practices and construction insurance to protect your business, and maybe even help you reach higher profits than ever before?

Keep reading.

The Complete Guide to Construction Insurance

Construction insurance protects you by transferring risks away from your business as part of your overall risk management strategy.

Risk management

Risk management is the practice of identifying potential risks in advance, analyzing them, and taking the necessary steps to reduce their impact on your business.

How does construction insurance fit into your businesses risk management efforts?

Risk Management in 5 Steps:

1. Identify the risks facing your business.
2. Analyze & measure the risks: what is the possibility of it happening, and what will it cost?
3. Control the risks through safety measures.
4. Transfer risk that can’t be controlled to insurance policies.
5. Review and refine new and existing risks.

 

Using Construction Insurance Policies to Transfer Risks

Some of the risks to your construction business can be controlled. For example, you can lower the likelihood of an accident happening on the job site by following OSHA workplace safety regulations, training your employees to pay special attention to construction risks such as falls and electrocutions, and keeping your project sites clean and organized.

But no matter how hard you try to control and manage risks, you can’t make them disappear completely. There will always be a chance that someone could get injured or have an accident.

That’s why you transfer some of your business risk with construction insurance.

Insurance is the most common form of risk transfer. You transfer the potential consequences of a risk to an insurance company in exchange for payment of a premium and deductible.

You can use the following insurance policies to transfer away the risks that every construction business owner faces.

General Liability

Accidents happen. And when you are a business owner, you can be assured that you are going to pay when they do. A client could trip over a powertool cord on a project site. Your employee could accidentally back a work truck through a neighbor’s fence. Your office assistant could put something on your company’s social media account that offends someone. And if someone feels that their bodily injury, property damage, or reputational damage is the result of your business, you can bet a lawsuit is on its way.

General liability is there to protect your business from the high costs of third-party lawsuits as a result of:

• Property damage
• Bodily injury
• Copyright Infringement
• Product Liability
• Accidents on your Property
• Reputation Damage (slander/ libel)
• Non-Owned (rented or hired) auto damage

If your business faces a lawsuit, general liability will pay for the costs of legal fees, lawyers fees, court fee, settlements, and other costs of your defense.

The Benefits of General Liability Insurance

The average cost of a slip and fall accident to a small business is $20,000 in legal fees. If you have transferred this risk away from your business with a general liability policy, the cost to you is your annual premium and deductible. And that saves your business a big chunk of change.

How to Make General Liability Coverage Affordable

You can reduce the costs of your general liability insurance premiums and make this policy even more affordable by avoiding general liability claims in the first place. Check out our tips on avoiding a claim, and you can keep your premiums on this must-have policy perfectly affordable.

Workers’ Comp

Accidents at the workplace don’t always affect a third-party, such as a customer or visitor to your workplace. Your employees can be injured by a workplace accident, too. When one of your employees falls of a ladder or gets tangled up with a power tool, workers’ comp insurance is there for both of you.

Workers’ comp will cover medical costs or lost wages while your employee is recovering from an injury or illness as a result of the work they perform for you.

The Benefits of Workers’ Comp Insurance

Workers’ comp insurance is there for your employees, because the truth is no workplace is 100% safe. Since workers’ comp will cover the medical expenses and lost wages from an injury or illness at the workplace, your employees won’t need to sue your business to recover those costs. The benefits of workers’ comp are so widely understood that most states require business owners to carry it, even if they only have one employee.

How to Make Workers’ Comp Coverage Affordable

There are a number of factors that go into calculating your workers’ comp costs. The best way to keep your premiums affordable is to classify workers correctly to avoid fines and audits, keep your payroll numbers accurate, and to make workplace safety a priority.

Commercial Auto

When you (or your workers) drive your truck full of tools and equipment from one project site to the next, there is always a possibility of an auto accident. Whether it is a distracted teen texting while driving, or the mom who didn’t see the stop sign because her toddler was screaming from the back seat, other drivers are a risk to your autos and the people driving them.

If you have been relying on your personal auto insurance to cover the vehicle you use for work purposes, you may be surprised to know that you are at risk. Only commercial auto insurance will cover a vehicle that you, or your employee, is driving for business purposes.

The Benefits of Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance gives you the peace of mind that the costs associated with an auto accident are covered if you, or your employee, is driving your vehicle for work. Whether it is driving to a project site, sending one of your workers out to pick up lunch, or dropping off a generator, your vehicles are covered with commercial auto.

How to Make Commercial Auto Coverage Affordable

You can keep your commercial auto rates low by hiring employees with excellent driving records. Your employees will be one of the biggest factors in determining your commercial auto premiums, so check their driving records before you hire, and at least twice a year. Compare premium prices before shopping for a new truck or van, too. Higher value automobiles often come with a higher premium price.

Tools and Equipment

Contractors and construction pros rely on their tools and equipment the way a musician relies on his instrument. Without the right equipment, you couldn’t get the job done. If your tools and equipment were stolen from the back of your truck when you stopped to get gas, or to run into the bank on your way to a project, the cost to replace them could eat up your entire profit margin.

Tools and equipment insurance, which is also known as inland marine, is a specialty insurance policy that protects a contractor’s tools and equipment as they are transported to and from project sites.

The Benefits of Tools & Equipment Insurance

From high dollar hand-held power tools, to compressors, generators, and other critical equipment, your tools aren’t cheap. If you had to replace lost or damaged equipment, the cost could really set you back. Instead of paying out of pocket to replace your tools, inland marine coverage will kick in and cover the loss so you can get back to work.

How to Make Tools & Equipment Coverage Affordable

Avoid tools and equipment claims by keeping track of your high dollar tools on and off the jobsite. If you are transporting equipment, deter theft by keeping items in a lock box or locked trailer, and not laying out in easy reach in the bed of a truck.

Course of Construction

If you baked bread or sold gizmos and gadgets, you would have property insurance to protect your business investment, supplies, and inventory. As a construction pro, your inventory, materials, supplies, and investments are tied up on project sites, instead. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need protection from fires, theft, vandalism, extreme weather, or other unforeseen disasters.

Course of construction is a special form of property insurance that will protect your investments from those, and many other, risks during the course of a project’s construction.

The Benefits of Course of Construction Insurance

Also known as builders risk, course of construction can cover you from loss from a fire, materials that have been damaged and ruined, or supplies that have been vandalized on a job site. You won’t have to pay out of pocket to repair work that you have already completed, replace materials, or make up for lost time if an unfortunate incident happened on your latest project.

How to Make Course of Construction Coverage Affordable

Combine your course of construction insurance coverage with other must-have construction insurance policies, such as general liability, commercial auto, and workers’ comp and you can get a discount on your policies. If you have enough cash set aside as a safety net, consider raising your deductible amounts to lower your monthly premiums, as well.

No matter what size your construction business is, risk management principles and construction insurance can help you survive the unexpected that could cost you everything. Risk management is all about protecting your business, and the right insurance policies are there to transfer the potential costs of those risks away so you don’t have to pay for an accident or mistake. Protect your business from loss, and you can survive no matter what unforeseen incident comes your way.