Do I need cover if I only supervise?

Yes. Supervision is a professional service with its own obligations and its own risks. It is declared separately from design, because the two are priced differently.

How long can a claim be brought on an old project?

The time limits come from the law and from your contract, not from the insurance policy. What matters on the insurance side is keeping cover running without a break and holding the retroactive date, so that earlier projects stay within it.

Is professional indemnity required in public tenders?

Not automatically — the law leaves it to the contracting authority's discretion. A number of design tenders do ask for it, with minimum limits set by the tender itself, usually benchmarked to the designer's registry class and the estimated fee. Because it varies from tender to tender, we read the documents before submission.

Are my sub-consultants covered?

Not automatically. External consultants usually need either their own cover or express provision in yours. We settle this before you sign, because it is one of the most common gaps in engineering practices.

Professional liability · Engineers

Professional Liability Insurance for Engineers

Your signature stays with the design for decades. The cover stands behind that signature, and on many projects it is a condition of taking part.

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The subject matter

An engineer’s liability begins at the drawing board.

Your liability attaches to what you sign as a technical consultant: design, calculations, specifications, supervision. If any of it costs the client money, the claim comes to you — not to the site.

This is what separates professional indemnity from the other covers on a project: a different subject matter, and often a different party buying it.

The distinction that matters

Three covers that often run on the same project.

The most common misunderstanding is that the project policy also protects the designer. It covers something else.

Professional indemnityCovers you and your services. Within the limits and terms of the policy, it responds to a claim for financial loss attributed to an error or omission in design, calculations, specification or supervision. It follows the professional, not the project.
Public liabilityResponds to third-party injury and property damage arising from your operations: the passer-by, the visitor to your office, the neighbouring building. It says nothing about the quality of the design.
Construction All RisksCovers the works themselves while they are being built: materials, workmanship, plant and site third-party liability. Usually taken out by the employer or the main contractor, and it ends at handover.

Why the retroactive date matters.

A design error does not surface the next day. It surfaces once the building has been handed over, perhaps years later — and that is when the designer is looked for.

Which is why, in this profession, the retroactive date matters more than a small difference in premium. It is what decides whether your earlier projects can be considered at all.

Construction All Risks

By discipline

By engineering discipline.

A policy covers the services you declare, so the list matters. These are the disciplines we see most often, and what to watch in each.

Civil and structural engineer
Structural design, load-bearing systems, seismic design, geotechnical assumptions and construction supervision. The risk rises with the value and complexity of the project, and an error can surface years after handover. That is why the retroactive date matters so much here.
Mechanical engineer
Building services, heating and cooling systems, fire protection, lifts and industrial plant. Commissioning is often part of the work and should be declared expressly.
Electrical engineer
Electrical design and installation, substations, control systems and photovoltaics. On energy projects the lender often sets minimum limits in the contract.
Architect
Architectural design, permitting, tender documentation and supervision. Alongside the technical work, claims here often turn on programme, approvals and planning compliance.
Surveying engineer
Surveys, boundary definition, topographic drawings and declarations. A mistake here usually produces pure financial loss for the client, which is exactly what professional indemnity is designed for.
Practice or engineering company
Where a design is signed by several people, or by the practice as a company, we look at whether the policy should be in the company name, in individual names, or both. We also settle how external sub-consultants are handled.

Common questions

Questions engineers ask.

Do I need cover if I only supervise?
Yes. Supervision is a professional service with its own obligations and its own risks. It is declared separately from design, because the two are priced differently.
How long can a claim be brought on an old project?
The time limits come from the law and from your contract, not from the insurance policy. What matters on the insurance side is keeping cover running without a break and holding the retroactive date, so that earlier projects stay within it.
Is professional indemnity required in public tenders?
Not automatically — the law leaves it to the contracting authority's discretion. A number of design tenders do ask for it, with minimum limits set by the tender itself, usually benchmarked to the designer's registry class and the estimated fee. Because it varies from tender to tender, we read the documents before submission.
Are my sub-consultants covered?
Not automatically. External consultants usually need either their own cover or express provision in yours. We settle this before you sign, because it is one of the most common gaps in engineering practices.

By profession

Professional liability by profession.

All professions

The first conversation

Let us structure cover around the projects you take on.

From design and supervision to what a tender requires, we help you work out what actually needs covering.

Request a quote Speak with an advisor