The building will stand for fifty years and every crack in it can be argued back to a drawing. Professional liability is the policy that argues back.
An architect or engineering firm needs professional liability written as a claims-made practice policy, never allowed to lapse, plus general liability, workers comp and auto for site visits, and a project-specific policy when an owner requires a dedicated limit. An architect or engineer is sued when the design is blamed: a roof that leaks, a slab that heaves, a change order the owner refuses to pay for, a schedule that slipped because the drawings were incomplete. The claim is often made by the owner and joined by the contractor, and it arrives years after the work. Professional liability for design firms is written on a claims-made basis, which means the policy in force when the claim is made pays, provided the work was done after a date printed on the policy. That mechanism is why a design firm never lets the policy lapse. We place practice policies for firms of one to fifty, project-specific policies where an owner requires one, and the general liability, auto and workers compensation a firm needs beside them.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What architects and engineers businesses actually need.
Professional liability (practice policy)
Claims that a design error, an omission, a late drawing or a failure to observe the work caused a client or a third party a loss, on every project the firm does.
Without it — A contractor's claim for the cost of rework caused by a drawing error is the firm's to pay, and the defense alone is measured in years.
Project-specific professional liability
A separate policy for one large project, bought when the owner requires a dedicated limit that your practice policy cannot commit to that job alone.
Without it — A single large claim on a hospital or a bridge can exhaust a practice policy and leave the rest of the year's projects uninsured.
General liability
Injury to a visitor to your office or on a site visit, and damage to property that is not your design work.
Without it — Excluded from professional liability; a site visit where someone trips over your survey stake is a general liability claim.
Pollution for design professionals
Claims that your design or your site assessment caused or failed to identify contamination, including mold.
Without it — Standard professional liability forms exclude pollution; an environmental engineer or a civil firm doing site work is exposed on every job.
Cyber liability
Loss of drawings, models and client data to ransomware, and the notification and recovery that follow.
Without it — A firm whose current projects are on encrypted servers cannot issue drawings; the schedule claims follow the outage.
Workers compensation and auto
Employee injury, including on site visits, and the vehicles staff drive to them.
Without it — Required from the first employee; a site visit is the most dangerous hour of a designer's week.
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Most common
Water intrusion or building envelope failure attributed to the design
Covered by Professional liability
Roofs, windows and below-grade waterproofing produce more design claims than any structural failure. Details, specifications and the construction observation log are the defense.
Common
Cost overruns and change orders blamed on incomplete drawings
Covered by Professional liability, for the negligent part
An owner claims the drawings were not coordinated and the contractor's extras are your fault. The policy defends; a contract that caps your liability and defines the standard of care limits what is at stake.
Rare, catastrophic
A structural or geotechnical failure
Covered by Professional liability
A collapse or a settling foundation is the claim that consumes a full limit. Peer review on structural work is what carriers ask about, and what discounts the price.
Common
A claim arrives years after the project, with the policy changed
Covered by The policy in force when the claim is made, if its retroactive date precedes the work
Design claims arrive an average of several years after substantial completion. Letting the policy lapse, or switching carriers without carrying the retroactive date, is how an insured firm becomes uninsured for its old work.
What the policy will not cover.
Pick a procedure to see what the exclusion actually means and whether it can be placed somewhere else.
The policy covers negligent professional services within the disciplines you disclosed, on a claims-made basis. It does not cover what you promised beyond the standard of care, and it does not cover construction you performed.
Where an architects and engineers policy stops
Guarantees and warranties in the contract
A clause promising the design will be free of defects, or will achieve a certification, raises your duty above what a careful professional owes; the excess is excluded.
Can it be placed? No. Strike the clause or have the carrier review the contract first.
Design-build where you also build
A firm that constructs what it designs takes on the contractor's liability as well. Professional liability excludes construction means and methods.
Can it be placed? Yes, on a design-build form or a paired contractor policy.
Claims from before the retroactive date
Work done before the date on the policy is uncovered. Buying a policy for the first time covers only the work from that day forward unless prior acts are negotiated.
Can it be placed? Yes, prior acts can usually be bought at inception with an application about the past work.
Certifying something you did not verify
Signing that construction complies with the drawings without observing it is the fastest way to a claim the policy will argue about.
Can it be placed? Yes, with a construction observation scope in the contract.
What the insurance company will ask about your architects and engineers business
We read 1 application the markets use for this kind of business and pulled out what they actually ask. Have these answers ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week, because nobody has to come back to you for the missing piece.
About the business
- What professional services does your firm provide?
- How many years has your firm been in business?
- Break down your staff by principals, professionals, technical staff, and administrative staff
- What percentage of your revenue comes from each type of project (airports, hospitals, schools, bridges, etc.)?
- What percentage of your revenue comes from each type of client (private owners, commercial owners, contractors, government, etc.)?
How you operate
- What percentage of your revenue comes from Design-Bid-Build, Design Build, Fast Track, and other delivery methods?
- What percentage of your work uses architectural, structural, civil, electrical, mechanical, and other disciplines?
- How much of your work is done on projects outside the United States?
- What percentage of your jobs use a written project scope-tracking log or Building Information Modeling?
- Do you maintain files and change order logs on all projects?
Safety and controls
- Do you have a written quality assurance and control manual that has been updated in the last 5 years?
- Do you have a written safety and loss control manual?
- Do your contracts include conflict resolution language?
- Are your contracts reviewed by outside legal counsel before signing?
- What percentage of your professional staff attended a risk management seminar in the last 2 years?
Your history
- Has any owner, officer, director, or principal had a professional license suspended or revoked?
- Has your firm had insurance cancelled or non-renewed?
- Has your firm been aware of any unresolved conflicts or disputes?
- Are you aware of any act, error, omission, or other circumstance that could be the basis for a claim?
- Has any claim for professional liability or malpractice been made against your firm or any principal in the last 5 years?
Money and people
- What is your total gross revenue for the last five fiscal years, including your projected revenue for the current year?
- Has your firm merged with, acquired, or entered into any joint ventures?
- Are other entities covered under your professional liability policy?
Have these ready
- Your firm's last professional liability insurance policy including carrier name, coverage limits, deductible, policy dates, and retroactive date
- Your last five years of claims history from your current insurer
- Your quality assurance and control manual
- Your safety and loss control manual
You answer what you can; a licensed agent fills the rest with you.
What our architects and engineers clients ask us.
How much does architects and engineers insurance cost?
Professional liability for a design firm is priced mainly on revenue and discipline, then on project types and claims history. A small architecture practice usually pays a low single-digit percentage of annual billings; structural, geotechnical and civil firms pay more than interiors or landscape, and firms working on condominiums, schools and hospitals pay more still. A clean five-year record and a written quality control process both bring the number down.
What is the difference between a practice policy and a project policy?
A practice policy covers every project the firm works on for the year, with one limit shared across all of them. A project policy covers one named project for its design and construction period plus a tail of several years, with its own limit that the owner often pays for. Owners of large public and institutional projects require the second; everyone needs the first.
What does an architects and engineers insurance application ask for?
The application we work from asks what services you provide and how staff split between principals, professionals and technical people; what share of your work is each project type (schools, hospitals, bridges, housing) and each delivery method; your client mix and any work abroad; whether you keep a written quality control manual, scope logs and change order files; how many staff attended risk management training; and five years of claims, license actions and revenue. It wants your past policy history, loss runs and your standard contracts.
An owner’s contract requires professional liability. What should I check before signing?
The limit, and whether it is per claim or aggregate. How long you must keep the policy in force after the project, which is often several years beyond substantial completion. Whether the owner wants to be an additional insured, which professional liability policies generally do not allow. And any indemnity or warranty language that promises more than the standard of care, because the policy excludes liability you take on only by contract. Send the insurance and indemnity articles to us before you sign.
What is tail coverage, and do I need it when I retire or close?
Professional liability is written claims-made, so it answers only claims made while a policy is in force, for work done after the retroactive date printed on it. Stop buying it and a claim about work you already did has nowhere to go. Tail coverage, an extended reporting period, keeps the right to report those claims open for a set number of years after the last policy ends. It is bought once, usually priced as a multiple of the last annual premium, and the decision is easiest to make before you cancel.
Do I need general liability as well as professional liability?
Yes. Professional liability covers the consequences of your design; general liability covers a visitor hurt in your office or an accident on a site visit that has nothing to do with the drawings. Contractors and owners will ask for certificates of both, and the limits they ask for come from the contract, so read it before you sign.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.