Steel Erectors Insurance

Steel erection involves dangerous work at great heights. Some of the risks faced on the job include:

• Falls from elevated platforms, beams, and partially assembled structures. Falls are the leading cause of workplace deaths in this industry.
• Struck by or caught between heavy materials and equipment. Steel beams can weigh thousands of pounds. 
• Electrocution from overhead power lines or portable generators and tools.
• Loads shifting or collapsing during hoisting and rigging.
• Fires caused by cutting torches and welding equipment. 
• Weather-related incidents like high winds disrupt unfinished structures.
• Injuries from using hand and power tools to bolt, weld, and cut steel pieces.

When accidents happen, injuries and costs can be severe. And liability doesn’t end with worker injuries.

Your business faces significant third-party risks too:

1. Property damage to structures, materials, and equipment.
2. Injuries to third parties like site visitors.
3. Damage to surrounding businesses or vehicles from falling objects.
4. Project delays from accidents disrupting the schedule.

Without comprehensive insurance policies, these claims and damages come straight out of your pocket. The right coverage protects your company and gives you peace of mind.

Specialized policies are necessary to protect steel erection contractors fully. Here are some of the essential coverage options:

Workers Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance is mandatory for businesses in most states. It covers medical expenses, lost wages, rehabilitation, and other costs if an employee suffers an illness or injury that is work-related. 

For the dangerous work of steel erection, injuries are common. Having this coverage in place protects your employees and your business from expensive claims.

General Liability Insurance for Steel Erectors

General liability insurance (GL) covers third-party bodily injury and property damage claims. For steel erectors, common risks include:

– Injury claims from subcontractors, site visitors, or nearby property owners.

– Damage to vehicles, equipment, or buildings from falling debris. 

– Damage to client property while working on their site.

– Injury or damage claims stemming from completed projects.

GL protects your business when customers, clients, or the public are negatively impacted by your steel erection work.

Builder’s Risk Insurance

Builder’s risk (or course of construction) insurance provides coverage for materials, equipment, and the structural project itself during construction. It protects against property damage from events like:

– Fire, lightning, wind, hail, vandalism
– Collapse or water damage 
– Theft of materials and equipment

For large steel erection projects, this coverage is often required by the general contractor or project owner. It protects your work and that of other subcontractors until the building is finished.

Professional Liability Insurance 

Also called errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, professional liability insurance protects against costs associated with claims of negligence or failure to perform your professional duties. 

In steel erection, this could include claims of:

– Incorrect installation leading to failures or collapse.
– Failure to follow plans, codes, or specifications. 
– Delay damages from missed deadlines.

Carrying appropriate limits ensures your business can cover financial judgments related to your services. This coverage is an important protection for any contractor providing skilled services.

Commercial Auto Insurance

Don’t overlook commercial auto insurance. You need coverage for non-owned, hired, and company vehicles used to transport crews, deliver materials, and move equipment between jobs.

At minimum, carry these standard coverages:

– Liability – Bodily injury, also known as personal injury and property damage to others when your drivers cause an accident.
– Collision – Damage to your vehicles from accidents, rollovers, etc.
– Comprehensive – Theft, vandalism, flooding, and other non-collision damage.

Make sure to understand any restrictions on non-owned or hired auto use. You want your crews fully covered on the road.

Inland Marine Insurance

Inland marine insurance protects mobile equipment that travels from site to site. Important coverages include:

– Contractors equipment for loss, theft, and damage to machinery.
– Rigging and crane equipment for moving steel components.  
– Builder’s tools for hand and power tools.
– Scaffolding, ladders, platforms and staging.

This coverage can be added to your general liability policy as an endorsement. Be sure to insure all the key equipment your crews rely on.

Commercial Umbrella Liability 

A commercial umbrella policy provides additional liability limits above your primary insurance. It adds an extra layer of protection for high claims or lawsuits. 

Umbrellas are inexpensive relative to the additional coverage they provide. For as little as a few hundred dollars more per year, you can add millions in extra coverage. This gives peace of mind that all your liability risks are sufficiently covered.

The Allen Thomas Group offers an insurance program designed exclusively for steel erector contractors, featuring broad protection for common exposures in metal building construction.

Our Comprehensive Coverage Options Include:

• General Liability: We provide coverage for bodily injury and property damage claims that may arise from steel erection activities. Limits are available up to $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. After those amounts, given the value and scope of the project, commercial umbrella insurance is a great excess option.
• Completed Operations: This protects you against claims after projects are completed for property damage or bodily injury occurring during the policy period. Coverage remains in effect for 10 years after completion.
• Medical Payments: Coverage for medical expenses incurred by others as a result of an accident on the insured job site or premises.
• Broad Definition of Insured: Includes the named insured, partners, executive officers, directors, stockholders, and employees. You can also amplify this coverage option with additional D&O coverage.
• Blanket Contractual Liability: Covers oral and written contracts or agreements relating to your business.
• Per Project Aggregate: Applies the policy aggregate separately for each job site or project location.
• Damage to Premises Rented to You: Up to $300,000 for damage to premises rented by the insured.
• Products and Completed Operations Aggregate: Separate aggregate applying to completed operations claims, preventing reduction of the general aggregate by these claims.

Protect Your Specific Steel Erection Operations:

Whether working as a general contractor, prime contractor, or subcontractor, we cover key services steel erectors perform:

• Structural Steel Erection: Frames, columns, beams, girders, trusses
• Metal Stairs, Fire Escapes, Ornamental Railings
• Pre-Engineered Buildings, Rigid Frame Structures
• Light Gauge Framing, Stud Walls, Floor and Roof Decking
• Infrastructure Projects: Bridges, Tunnels, Subways, Dams
• Tilt-Up, Tilt-Slab, Pre-Cast Concrete Erection
• Steel Tanks, Silos, Chimneys, Smokestacks
• Curtain Walls, Building Facades, Skylights
• Catwalks, Mezzanines, Platforms, Canopies

We also provide coverage for common fabricator exposures like welding, cutting, bending, machining, and finishing of steel products.

Give our team a call at (440) 826-3676 to build a custom plan for your needs.