Business insurance for pool builders and contractors
There are plenty of risks involved in building a pool, and if you get it wrong, the consequences can be severe.
Aside from the physical dangers of working with excavation equipment, there’s also the danger that something goes wrong with the build itself.
For these reasons and many more, it’s vital to have the right insurance in place for your swimming pool business.
In this guide we’ll take a look at the different options for pool builders insurance.
- What insurance does a pool builder need?
- Types of pool builders insurance
- Other insurance types
- Next steps
If you’re not interested in reading the guide and would prefer to speak with an expert, call our office on 1800 808 800.
What insurance does a pool builder need?
A swimming pool building business will need a range of different insurance types depending on the size and structure of the business.
Some pool building businesses may subcontract a lot of the work out and not own their own machinery, whilst others may do everything in-house with their own staff and equipment.
Public liability insurance will be a must-have regardless of your setup, and you may need a number of other insurance types that we’ll detail below.
The best course of action is to speak with one of our insurance brokers who will be able to tell you exactly what you need, but it’s nice to have a general idea yourself.
Types of pool builders insurance
Generally speaking, the types of business insurance that a pool builder will need are no different to any other type of builder, but there are some differences.
We’ll now take a closer look at some of the more common forms of pool builders insurance.
Public liability insurance
This is the most important form of insurance for a pool builder or contractor.
Public liability insurance will respond in the event that you cause property damage or personal injury to a third party.
Property damage example:
A staff member is running the excavator up the side of your client’s house to dig a pool, but they clip the corner of the house causing a few grand worth of damage.
As the damage was the fault of your staff member, you would be liable for the repair costs. Your public liability policy would cover this cost.
Personal injury example:
You leave the jobsite for the day and one of your staff fails to adequately secure the pool area.
Later that night a visitor to the house walks through the backyard and falls into the pool, suffering multiple broken bones.
Assuming that your company will be found liable for the injuries, you will be required to cover the victim’s medial costs and loss of income during their recovery.
This is something that your public liability insurance policy would respond to.
More information: Public liability insurance
Personal accident insurance
If your pool building or contracting business relies on you being able to physically work in order to bring in money, protecting your income is a must.
Personal accident insurance can cover a larger percentage of your income for a period of time whilst you’re unable to work due to injury or (optional) illness.
Working around excavators and pool digs can be dangerous, so it’s important to ensure you’re protecting your income.
When you add in the illness option, you’ll also be financially protected if your unable to work due to illness.
More information: Personal accident insurance
Plant & machinery insurance
Some pool builders hire in their excavators and other machinery, whilst some are in the fortunate position of being able to own it.
If you own your plant and machinery, it’s important to properly insure it. If you’ve financed the machinery then you’ll generally have no choice but to insure it.
If you’re hiring out your plant and machinery in between jobs, whether it be wet hire or dry hire, it’s important to have this noted on your insurance to ensure you are properly covered.
Our insurance brokers can run you through the different options for insuring your plant and machinery.
More information: Plant & machinery insurance
Tool insurance
We’ve covered off the major plant and machinery options, but what about all those portable power tools that you own?
Tool insurance is a must for protecting the rest of your gear.
It can cover your tools for loss or damage due to fire or vehicle collision, along with theft cover whilst your tools are securely stored.
More information: Tool insurance
Contract works insurance
A pool building project can add up to big dollars, and often the exposure during the project will sit with you as the builder.
Contract works insurance can protect you financially if the build or the materials are damaged through no fault of your own.
This could be a result of storm damage, theft or even malicious damage.
Contract works insurance is available as an annual policy, or a single project policy if you aren’t doing many builds each year.
More information: Contract works insurance
Government mandated insurances
As insurance brokers we can deal with most insurance types, but there are a couple of government mandated insurances that we don’t get into.
Workers compensation is the most obvious one. In some states (such as Queensland) this insurance is fully managed by the state government and has no broker involvement.
In other states brokers can get involved in workers compensation insurance, but we choose not to.
Each state will also have their own form of builders insurance that you will need. Depending on the state, this is sometimes referred to as builders warranty insurance.
This is another form of insurance that we steer clear of, and in most cases you can obtain this policy directly through the relevant government body, such as the QBCC in Queensland.
Other insurance types
Whilst we’ve covered off some of the major pool builders insurance types above, they certainly aren’t the only ones you’ll need or should at least be aware of.
Depending on the size of your business you may need to look at management liability insurance, contractual liability insurance and legal expense insurance.
Cyber insurance is increasingly important, and then there are more obvious covers such as your motor vehicles.
Only a qualified and experienced insurance broker can give you a comprehensive list of recommendations on how to properly insure your business.
Next steps
Whether you’re a pool builder taking on the full project, or a subcontractor just doing your part of the build, it’s important to have the right business insurance in place.
At Trade Risk we’ve been helping builders and tradies for over a decade. We can assist with everything from a single public liability policy through to a full business insurance package.
Whilst there are some business types that we can quickly send out an online quote, for pool building companies we strongly recommend having a chat with one of our insurance brokers.
They can run through your requirements and put together an insurance plan. You don’t have to accept all of their recommendations, but at least you’ll be aware of what’s available.
To get started please call our office on 1800 808 800 or complete our online enquiry.
