My Account
We compare quotes from leading insurers
STRUCTURAL LIABILITY COVER DESIGNED FOR FABRICATORS
Why Structural Failure Risk Needs Specialist Insurance
Structural failure claims can be severe. A fabricated steel element, bracket, platform, staircase, handrail, gantry, support frame or load-bearing assembly can fail for many reasons: weld defects, incorrect material grade, poor fixings, manufacturing tolerance issues, corrosion, fatigue, incorrect installation, or design/specification misunderstandings.
When failure occurs, losses can escalate quickly: injury claims, damage to property, shutdown of industrial operations, removal and reinstatement costs, emergency repairs, and contractual disputes. Insure24 helps metal fabricators and manufacturers arrange liability cover aligned to real structural exposures and contract requirements.
What Is Defective Fabrication & Structural Failure Liability?
“Defective fabrication” and “structural failure” exposures usually sit within a wider liability programme. In practice, claims tend to fall into three categories:
- Third-party injury – someone is injured due to failure or collapse
- Third-party property damage – other property or equipment is damaged due to failure
- Pure rectification / re-work – the cost of correcting the defective item itself (often not automatically covered)
Standard Public Liability / Products Liability policies are primarily designed to respond to the first two categories (injury and third-party property damage), plus associated legal defence costs. The third category (making good your own defective work) is often excluded unless specific extensions are in place and carefully underwritten.
Because fabrication and structural works can be safety-critical, insurers may ask detailed questions about welding procedures, inspection, testing, certifications, design responsibility and installation controls.
- Public Liability – injury/property damage arising from your on-site activities
- Products Liability – injury/property damage caused after handover by your fabricated products
- Completed Operations – allegations linked to completed installation works
- Legal Defence Costs – claims investigation and defence (subject to terms)
- Contractual Liability (limited) – some contract liabilities may be accepted (underwritten)
- Worldwide territory (optional) – for exporters / international supply chains
- Care, custody & control – where you work on client property (needs correct wording)
- Higher limits – to meet principal contractor and OEM requirements
- Professional Indemnity – if you design, specify, calculate, or advise on structural adequacy
- Recall / rectification extensions – where available, for certain withdrawal/rectification costs
- Product recall – relevant where batch failures create a need to withdraw products
- Fitness for purpose exposures – contract-driven risks requiring careful review
- Subcontractor liability – labour-only or subcontracted installation under your control
- Hot works exposures – welding/cutting risks (often with conditions)
- Tools/plant & contract works – to protect the project while work is underway
- Claims support – guidance through investigation, evidence capture and negotiation
Common Causes of Defective Fabrication & Structural Failure Claims
Structural failure is rarely a single “obvious” mistake. In many claims, the cause is a chain of small issues: measurement errors, a misread drawing, material substitutions, poor surface preparation, incomplete weld penetration, missing fixings, incorrect torque settings, lack of corrosion protection, or changes on-site that were not signed off.
Understanding where claims come from helps you improve risk controls - and helps insurers price and cover you correctly.
Fabrication / Manufacturing Issues
- Weld defects (lack of fusion, porosity, cracking, incomplete penetration)
- Incorrect material grade or unapproved substitutions
- Tolerance or measurement errors leading to poor fit-up or stress points
- Incorrect heat treatment assumptions or hardness issues
- Poor surface prep leading to coating failure and corrosion
- Tool wear / calibration drift causing repeated batch defects
- Inadequate inspection/testing documentation for traceability
- Misinterpretation of drawings/specifications
Installation / Site Issues
- Incorrect fixings or anchors for substrate conditions
- Out-of-level installation causing load transfer problems
- On-site modifications not approved or documented
- Incorrect torque settings / missing fasteners
- Uncontrolled hot works damaging adjacent structures/services
- Lifting/rigging damage during positioning
- Working-at-height issues leading to unsafe temporary support
- Incomplete handover / missing inspection sign-offs
Downstream Loss Severity: Why Small Failures Become Big Claims
Fabricated products often interact with high-value property: industrial lines, vehicles, public spaces, building structures, and safety systems. If a failure causes a production line shutdown, an injury, or damage to expensive plant, the claim can include significant consequential costs. That’s why policy limits, territory, and wording suitability matter.
When You May Need Professional Indemnity (PI) as Well
Many fabrication businesses take on more “design responsibility” than they realise: advising on fixings, proposing alternative sections, value engineering, producing drawings, issuing calculations, or confirming that a fabricated item will meet a load requirement.
Public/Products Liability is generally designed for injury/property damage due to a product or activity. Professional Indemnity is designed for claims alleging negligence in professional services (design, advice, specification, calculations). If you do any of the following, PI may be important:
- Produce drawings, CAD models or shop drawings that others rely on
- Advise on load capacity, fixings, materials or section choice
- Modify designs on-site or propose alternatives to engineer’s details
- Design brackets, frames or bespoke load-bearing assemblies
- Sign off tolerances, interfaces or installation methods
Where PI is needed, it should be aligned to your contracts and the scope of design responsibility you accept.
Contractual Risk: “Fitness for Purpose” and Broad Indemnities
Contract clauses can widen exposure beyond insurable negligence-based liability. Fitness for purpose obligations and broad indemnities can create uninsured gaps.
- Fitness for purpose obligations
- Indemnities for downstream economic loss
- Removal and reinstallation costs
- Penalties and liquidated damages
- Warranty periods and broad acceptance criteria
We can help you identify common insurance pinch points when you tell us the type of contracts you sign.
“A client alleged a structural frame we fabricated was defective after movement was discovered on-site. The insurer funded specialist investigation and legal defence, helping us reach a fair outcome.”
Project Manager, UK Fabrication ContractorHow Much Does Structural Failure Liability Insurance Cost?
Pricing is driven by severity. Insurers look at the worst-case scenario: if your fabricated work failed, what could it realistically damage or injure? The more safety-critical and load-bearing the products are, the more important it is to demonstrate strong quality assurance and clear responsibility boundaries.
Premiums are influenced by turnover, project types, maximum contract value, on-site installation exposure, welding standards, inspection regimes, export territory, claims history and contract wording.
Underwriting Details That Help
- Activities: fabrication only vs supply & install
- Typical products: load-bearing vs non-structural
- Max project value and max working height (if installing)
- Welding procedures, coded welders and certifications
- Inspection/testing: NDT, visual inspection, sign-off routines
- Traceability for materials, batches and weld records
- Export exposure and territories
- Claims, complaints and near-miss history
How to Get a Quote
- 1. Describe what you fabricate and whether it is load-bearing
- 2. Confirm if you install and the typical site conditions
- 3. Share contract requirements (limits, territories, indemnities)
- 4. Provide turnover split and maximum contract value
- 5. Outline QA controls and inspection/testing procedures
- 6. Provide claims history and any known issues
- 7. Choose limits and any required extensions
- 8. Bind cover and receive documentation
If you need documents for a tender or principal contractor onboarding, call us and we’ll prioritise your request.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
+-
What does structural failure liability insurance cover?
It generally refers to liability cover designed to respond if fabricated work or products fail and cause injury or damage to third-party property, subject to policy terms. It can include legal defence costs and may sit within a combined Public/Products Liability programme.
+-
Does this insurance cover the cost of fixing my defective fabrication?
Often not. Many liability policies cover injury or third-party property damage caused by the defect, but exclude the cost of repairing or replacing your own defective product or work. Certain extensions may be available depending on insurer appetite and underwriting.
+-
When do I need professional indemnity as a fabricator?
If you provide design input, drawings, calculations, specifications, material advice or alter designs on-site, professional indemnity may be important. It covers allegations of negligence in professional services, which may not be covered under Public/Products Liability.
+-
Are welding defects covered under product liability?
If a welding defect causes injury or damage to third-party property, products liability may respond subject to terms and exclusions. Insurers will often want to understand your welding standards, qualifications and inspection/testing routines.
+-
What limit of liability is typical for structural fabrication work?
Common limits are £2m, £5m or £10m, often driven by contracts and worst-case exposure. For safety-critical or public-facing work, higher limits may be required depending on project risk.
+-
Does this cover removal and reinstallation costs?
Not automatically. Removal/reinstallation and pure rectification costs can be excluded unless specific extensions are in place. Contract wording matters here, so it’s important to discuss your typical obligations when arranging cover.
+-
Will insurers want details about QA and inspection?
Yes. Quality assurance, inspection/testing, traceability and welding procedures are important underwriting factors. Strong documentation can support better terms and help in defending claims if allegations arise.
+-
How quickly can Insure24 arrange this cover?
Once we have your activity description, turnover split, typical products/end use, installation exposure and claims history, we can usually progress quotes quickly. If you need documents urgently for a tender or principal contractor requirement, call us and we’ll prioritise your request.