Builder’s risk or installation floater: which one does the contract want from me?
Usually the owner or the general contractor buys builder’s risk, which insures the building under construction, and the subcontractor buys an installation floater, which insures the subcontractor’s own materials and equipment in transit, in storage and while being installed until the owner accepts the work. Read the contract to see who buys builder’s risk and whether it covers your materials before they are installed.
Tell us the situation.
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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.
The forms, side by side
Builder’s risk
- What it does
- Insures the structure and materials becoming part of it
- Blanket or scheduled
- Per project or annual reporting
- Carrier availability
- Widely available
- What to ask your agent
- Who does the contract make buy it?
- Common trap
- Two policies, or none, because each party assumed the other
Installation floater
- What it does
- Insures your materials in transit, storage and installation
- Blanket or scheduled
- Usually blanket, with per-job and per-location limits
- Carrier availability
- Widely available
- What to ask your agent
- Is the per-job limit at least my largest job?
- Common trap
- Off-site storage or transit left out
Contractor’s equipment
- What it does
- Insures your tools and equipment
- Blanket or scheduled
- Scheduled or blanket
- Carrier availability
- Widely available
- What to ask your agent
- Are rented tools included?
- Common trap
- Assuming builder’s risk covers your tools
The detail
Builder’s risk insures buildings or structures while under construction, and installation floaters are inland marine coverage for a contractor’s materials and supplies until installation is complete or accepted; both are commonly written on carrier forms with terms that vary.
Inland marine and commercial property practice; carrier forms govern
What this means for you
- Find the sentence that names the buyer. Contracts say "Owner shall procure builder’s risk" or put it on the contractor. If it is on you, it is a separate policy priced on the project value.
- Your materials before installation are the gap. Builder’s risk often covers materials on site intended for the project; many policies limit or exclude materials off site or in transit. The installation floater fills it.
- Check the deductible clause. Contracts often make the party responsible for a loss pay the builder’s risk deductible. That can be you.
Related questions
- Does the owner’s builder’s risk cover my materials?
Often while on site and intended for the project, sometimes not off site or in transit, and terms vary by carrier. Ask for the policy or the coverage summary before relying on it.
- Does an installation floater cover my tools?
Usually not. Tools and equipment go on a contractor’s equipment policy.
- Inland marine and equipment
- Can you check the insurance requirements in my contract?
Yes. Paste the insurance section into our free Contract Insurance Decoder and it names the endorsement behind each clause, flags the ones that are often missing, and prints a checklist, without the text leaving your browser. Send that with your current policy and a licensed agent compares them line by line, usually the same business day.
- Open the Contract Insurance Decoder
Need this handled?
Reading about it and having it handled are different jobs, and the second one is ours. We place the accounts other brokers decline — claims history, a cancellation, an unusual operation, a business nobody wants to underwrite twice — and we will tell you when the policy you already have is the right one. Tell us the situation and a licensed human replies the same business day.
Written by Kevin Kelsey, founder and principal agent, CA License #6011822, at Boring Insurance. Last updated 2026-10-05. See all guides.