Everything else insures what you do. This insures what you are building.
General liability covers harm you cause to other people. Workers comp covers your crew. Builders risk covers the thing itself, the structure standing half-finished and open to weather, plus the materials sitting on site waiting to go in. The most common failure on this line is not a bad policy, it is two parties each assuming the other bought it. We are independent and based in Eugene, so we settle that question before the work starts.
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Builders risk is usually quoted as a percentage of the completed project value, driven by construction type, project duration, and location. Frame construction and long build schedules price above short, non-combustible projects, which is why the same dollar value of work can carry very different rates.
Who is supposed to buy it
This is the question that causes the losses, and it is contractual rather than technical. On many commercial projects the owner carries builders risk. On residential and smaller work the contractor often does. Neither is a rule.
The failure mode is symmetrical assumption: the owner believes the contractor covered it, the contractor believes it was the owner's, and a fire finds nobody holding the policy. Settle it in writing before work begins, and if the contract is silent, treat that silence as the risk rather than as permission.
Set the limit on completed value
Builders risk should generally be written to the completed value of the project, not to what is standing today. The logic is that exposure grows as the build progresses: the most valuable moment for the structure is right before handover, and that is also when there is most to lose.
Insuring to current stage feels intuitive and leaves you underinsured at exactly the wrong point. Getting the completed value right at the outset is the single most important number on this policy.
What is excluded, and the warranty misunderstanding
Faulty workmanship and defective design are commonly excluded or sharply limited. Builders risk is not a warranty on the quality of the build, and contractors sometimes expect it to behave like one. Earthquake and flood are typically excluded unless specifically added, which matters across the western states. Wear, mechanical breakdown, and employee theft are generally out.
The practical read: it covers sudden external events happening to the project, not the consequences of how the project was built.
Renovation, the difficult version
New construction on bare ground is straightforward. Renovation is not, because there are two things to insure: the existing building and the new work. The owner's property policy covers one, builders risk covers the other, and the seam between them is where a renovation fire becomes an argument between two carriers.
Getting those two policies to acknowledge each other, in writing, before demolition starts is most of the value on a renovation job. It is also the step most often skipped.
When the coverage stops
Policies end at completion, at occupancy, or on a stated date, and the definitions differ. A building occupied before formal completion can terminate coverage sooner than the contractor assumes.
Schedules also slip. Builders risk does not extend itself to follow the job, so a project running past its term needs the policy extended deliberately. An expired builders risk on a still-open structure is a live gap that nobody notices until something happens.
Questions worth asking before you sign
Ask who the contract makes responsible for builders risk, and get it in writing. Ask whether the limit is completed value or current stage. Ask when the policy terminates and what triggers it. On renovation, ask how it coordinates with the owner's existing property policy. Ask whether earthquake and flood are included, because in the western states they usually are not.
Trades that need builders risk
How this coverage applies changes with the work. These are the trades where it does the most, each with the exposure spelled out for that trade.
General Contractors
Usually the party expected to carry or verify it, and the one holding the loss if nobody did.
GC insurance →Remodelers
Renovation is the hardest version: an existing structure plus your work, and the two are insured differently.
Remodeler insurance →Carpenters & Framers
Framed and open structures are at their most exposed to wind and water before they are dried in.
Carpenter insurance →Roofers
An open roof is the classic builders risk claim, and the weather exclusion wording decides it.
Roofer insurance →Concrete & Masonry
Materials and forms on site before they are part of the structure.
Concrete insurance →Restoration Contractors
Reconstruction after a loss is construction, and the open structure needs covering during the rebuild.
Restoration insurance →Requirements change at the state line
Licensing, bonds, and workers comp rules vary by state, and so do the limits contracts ask for. Pick yours.
Go deeper in the Learning Center
Plain-language articles on how this coverage behaves in a real claim.
Builders risk questions
What is builders risk and how is it different from general liability?
Who is supposed to buy it, me or the owner?
What does it actually cover?
What is usually excluded?
How is the limit set?
What does builders risk cost?
Does it cover renovation of an existing building?
When does the coverage end?
Reviewed for insurance accuracy by Richard Sweet, Vantage Point Risk. Last reviewed July 20, 2026. How we review this.
Does anyone actually hold the builders risk on your project?
The common failure is not a bad policy. It is the owner and the contractor each assuming the other bought it.
Insure the project, not just the liability around it.
Tell us the project, the contract, and the schedule, and we will place builders risk at completed value with a term that matches the job.