Insurance for demolition work almost sounds like an oxymoron: If the plan is to blow the building up, what is there to insure? The irony is that demolition is actually one of the most demanding areas of construction when it comes to comprehensive insurance coverage. What happens when you build a shed in the wrong spot? You have a shed in the wrong spot. But what if you plant the explosives in the wrong spot? Safely destroying a building demands the same knowledge of engineering and architectural structure as building the structure did in the first place, and the bigger the job, the more that can go wrong if you’re not 100% certain of what you’re doing.
The first things that come to mind when you think of demolition insurance are probably the neighboring building, and liability coverage to make sure that you’re protected should a worker or a bystander sustain an injury. The equipment used in a demolition job also needs to be insured. You wouldn’t guess that wrecking balls and concrete pulverizers are delicate instruments, but a lot can go wrong when using a machine that was built solely to smash into brick buildings.
There are also considerations of damages done to municipal property. It’s not unusual for sewer and power structures to be damaged in the process of building demolition. For some, this is the tricky part: Is municipal property covered by its own insurance, or will the demolition team need to take out a policy of their own? In the event of private citizens doing damage to public property, the damages are typically paid for by the person who damaged it, whether that means an individual running over a stop sign, or a demolition crew destroying a public street. There was a story in 2011 in Indiana, for instance, when the state’s Department of Transportation sent invoices to around four thousand drivers who had damaged guard rails, traffic signs and other municipal property. In other words, this is just another area where comprehensive coverage can come in handy.
Demolition insurance can also refer to insurance that covers buildings in the event of severe damages due to factors like storms, flooding and random accidents. Demolition insurance protecting a building against unwanted damages may include debris removal, which is usually the demolition crew’s job when you’re tearing a building down on purpose.
