Earlier this year, L.A. residents and construction firms nationwide were made aware of the huge fire that claimed an entire apartment complex in December. The residential project was under construction at the time, and not only damaged neighboring buildings, but obliterated the construction site itself. Not only are incidents such as these a danger to the construction workers and any surrounding personnel, fires create costly and timely Builders Risk Policy New Jersey exposures. Builders risk policies provide coverage for structures being erected while they are under construction, and could include materials stored on site as well.
So what can be done to help prevent construction fires, and thus reduce your builders risk exposures? It starts by understanding the leading causes of construction fires, which include:
- Vandalism
- Smoking
- Heaters
- Poor Electrical Work
- Cooking
Once you understand these risks, it’s imperative to take the appropriate steps to mitigate them. Your construction site should be secured at all times, barring any entrance of trespassers during after-hours. Smoking within the job site should be prohibited, or at least contained to a designated area with appropriate disposal options.
As part of a construction site inspection, managers or safety managers should do a walk-through at the end of the day and make sure there are no unattended space heaters left on, and check to ensure that any electrical wires have been installed correctly and no existing ones have been damaged. Lastly, using coffee machines, hotplates, and other items for cooking is quite often on construction sites; these should be turned off after every use, and construction equipment itself should never been used for cooking.
Builders risk insurance also goes by the name of “course of construction” insurance, and some policies could even include damage from lightning, hail, explosion, water damage, and mechanical breakdown. For more information about policy specifics, as well as our other NJ Construction Insurance Policies, please contact Provident Protection Plus Insurance Agency and speak to a knowledgeable insurance representative at (888) 990-0526.