Builders risk insurance that covers the whole project — nationwide.

Builders risk insurance — also called course-of-construction insurance — is a property policy that covers a building project while it’s under construction. It pays to repair or rebuild the structure itself after a covered loss, and typically extends to materials and equipment staged on the jobsite, property in transit to the site, and property in temporary storage. Most policies can also cover soft costs — the architectural fees, permits, and loan interest that keep accruing if a covered loss delays the project. It is not liability coverage; it protects the work, not third-party injury. Coverage generally begins at groundbreaking and ends when the project is completed and ready for use or occupancy, at which point a permanent property policy should take over.

A named-peril policy covers only the specific causes of loss listed in it — typically fire, lightning, hail, theft, and vandalism — and the burden is on you to show the loss came from a listed peril. An all-risk (or “open-perils”) policy is the more common and broader form: it covers all causes of direct physical loss except those the policy specifically excludes, so the burden shifts to the insurer to prove an exclusion applies. All-risk is generally the better protection for a construction project, but “all-risk” does not mean everything — flood, earthquake, and (in coastal areas) named-storm wind are usually excluded and must be added back by endorsement or covered separately.

Either can carry it, and the construction contract usually decides. On many projects the general contractor buys the builders risk policy and names the owner and lender as additional insureds or loss payees; on others — especially larger developments — the owner or developer secures it and names the contractors. What matters is that someone with an insurable interest in the project carries adequate coverage, that the limit reflects the completed value, and that the lender and all parties with an interest are correctly named on the certificate. Construction lenders almost always require builders risk as a condition of the loan and will hold up funding until they see a certificate that meets their terms.

Usually not without adding it. Standard builders risk forms commonly exclude flood and earthquake, and in coastal regions they exclude or heavily sublimit named-storm or windstorm damage. These exposures can often be added back by endorsement or placed as separate coverage, but they are priced and underwritten according to the site’s catastrophe risk — and on high-exposure projects (wildfire-zone, coastal hurricane, seismic) they can be the hardest part of the placement. The federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and private flood markets are the usual answer for flood; quake and named-storm wind are typically handled through endorsements or the surplus-lines market. Never assume an all-risk policy includes them — confirm it in writing.

Builders risk is written to the completed value of the project — the total cost to finish construction, including materials and labor but generally excluding the value of the land. That figure, not the amount built so far, is the basis for both the premium and the maximum the policy will pay. Setting it too low leaves you underinsured if a total loss happens near completion; setting it too high means you overpay for limit you can’t use. Some policies are written on a reporting form for projects whose value builds over time. We help you establish the completed value accurately and, where the project warrants, layer soft-costs and extra-expense limits on top of it.

Builders risk can cover renovation and remodel projects, but the existing structure is a critical gotcha. The base policy is built to insure new construction work; the value of the building that already stands — the part you’re renovating around — is often not automatically covered and may need a separate endorsement or a property policy in place. Ordinance-or-law coverage also matters on renovations, because a covered loss can trigger a requirement to bring previously non-conforming parts of the building up to current code. Tell us it’s a renovation up front so we structure the policy to cover both the new work and the existing structure, rather than discovering the gap at claim time.

Builders risk is designed to end when the project is complete and ready for use or occupancy — and that creates one of the most common coverage gaps in construction. Builders risk doesn’t convert into permanent property insurance; the owner needs a standing commercial property policy (or a homeowners policy on a residential build) in force the moment the builders risk term ends, with no gap in between. Occupancy, final inspection, or the certificate of occupancy can trigger the end of coverage even if you assumed you had longer. We coordinate the builders risk term with the permanent policy so the project is never left uninsured between the last day of construction and the first day of ownership.

Yes. Builders Risk Insurance Pros is the national course-of-construction practice of Thrive Risk Management Insurance Solutions, a licensed insurance brokerage (CA License #6012320). Because builders risk is a project-based property product, we place it nationwide through our appointed specialty and wholesale partners and structure each policy around the project’s completed value, construction term, and catastrophe exposure — wherever the job is. Start with your state page or request a quote and we’ll confirm we can place your project before you spend time on paperwork.