Concreter insurance is built around one awkward fact about the material: once it goes off, mistakes are expensive to undo. Slurry in a neighbour’s drain, a cracked driveway under a loaded agitator, or a slab poured to the wrong level all turn into claims, and each lands in a different place depending on the policy. Concreters and formworkers sit within our wider insurance for tradies, but the concrete-specific traps deserve a closer look.
Getting the Occupation Wording Right
Public liability is priced and written on the occupation you declare. “Concreter” can describe very different work:
- residential slabs, paths and driveways;
- decorative, exposed aggregate and polished finishes;
- formwork and steel fixing;
- commercial slabs, suspended slabs and tilt panels;
- concrete cutting, core drilling and grinding;
- kerb and channel, footpaths and civil work.
Each carries a different risk. Core drilling a suspended slab can hit post-tensioned tendons or services. Tilt panel work brings cranes and heavy lifts. Grinding raises dust and silica exposures. If the declared occupation is narrower than the work you do, a claim arising from the undeclared activity can be declined or reduced. Our article on why the occupation matters on public liability explains how insurers read it. Describe everything you do, including the jobs you only pick up now and then.
Damage to Neighbouring Property
Concrete work sits close to other people’s property, and the damage it causes tends to be messy rather than dramatic.
- Slurry and washout. Cement-laden water in neighbours’ gardens, pools, stormwater pits or sewer lines. Removing set concrete from a drain can mean excavation.
- Splatter and overspray. Concrete on cars, rendered walls, windows and paving, and sealer drifting onto surfaces it should never reach.
- Undermining. Excavating for footings or edge beams near a boundary can destabilise a neighbour’s fence, retaining wall or footing.
- Vibration. Compaction and cutting close to older structures can crack plaster or tiles next door.
Public liability can respond to third party property damage like this, subject to the wording. Check how your policy treats vibration, removal or weakening of support, and pollution. Some wordings exclude or limit these, and washout entering stormwater or waterways can raise environmental questions that a pollution exclusion may catch. Ask how your wording reads on each point before you take on a job hard against a boundary.
Defective Workmanship and the Rip and Tear Question
Liability policies typically do not pay to fix your own faulty work. If a slab cracks because it was poorly placed, cured or reinforced, the cost of replacing that slab generally sits with you.
What can be treated differently is the damage the faulty work causes to other things, and the cost of getting at the problem. A slab that has to be broken out to reach a failed drain, or tiles laid by someone else that have to come up because your screed failed, raise questions of resulting damage and “rip and tear”. Policies differ sharply here. We explain the distinction in our article on defective concrete and rip and tear cover, and it is worth reading before you rely on any policy for workmanship problems.
Keep records that show the job was done properly: mix dockets, slump and test results where taken, photographs of reinforcement before the pour, and curing notes. They are the difference between a defended allegation and an argument you cannot win.
Contract Works on Slabs and Pours
Before handover, the work itself is at risk: rain on a fresh pour, vandals writing in wet concrete, formwork blown over, a storm scouring a prepared base, reo and formply stolen from site. Public liability does not deal with damage to the works you are building. Contract works insurance does.
On larger jobs the head contractor often arranges contract works for the whole project and includes subcontractors. On smaller residential jobs you may be expected to arrange your own. Check the contract, and our guide to contract works insurance, to confirm who carries it before the first pour.
Pumps, Agitators and Hired-In Plant
A pour usually involves someone else’s equipment, and each piece raises its own question.
- Concrete pumps. A boom or line pump hired with an operator is generally the pump company’s exposure while their operator runs it, but the hire terms decide. A burst line spraying a facade, or a boom contacting a roof, can produce arguments about who was directing the work. Agree it before the pump arrives.
- Agitators. Trucks delivering to site can crack driveways, kerbs and footpaths. Who pays often depends on who directed the truck onto the surface and what the delivery docket says, and some supplier terms place that risk on whoever ordered the delivery. Our guide to concrete truck insurance covers the operator’s side.
- Dry-hired plant. Screeds, power trowels, saws, compactors and mini loaders hired without an operator usually become your responsibility under the hire agreement. Hired-in plant cover is the usual answer, rather than paying the hire company’s damage waiver on every job.
Tools and Vehicles
Concreting gear lives on utes and trailers and gets left on site. Power trowels, screeds, vibrators, saws, laser levels and generators are theft targets. Tools cover can be written as unspecified items up to a limit per item, or as specified items with stated values. Expensive gear, such as a laser level or a ride-on trowel, usually belongs on the specified list. Check what the policy requires for theft from a vehicle or a site, such as forcible entry, a locked compartment or a secured lock-up. Our page on tools of trade insurance explains how those conditions work.
A Concreter Insurance Checklist
- An occupation description that matches every type of concrete work you do.
- A public liability limit that meets what builders and principals commonly ask for.
- Clarity on how vibration, removal of support and pollution are treated.
- A clear understanding of what the policy does and does not do for defective work.
- Contract works arranged by you, or confirmed in writing as arranged by the builder.
- Hired-in plant cover for dry-hired gear.
- Specified values on expensive tools.
- Certificates of currency from subcontractors, such as steel fixers and pump operators.
- Personal accident or income cover if you work in the business yourself.
Workers compensation for employees sits under your state scheme. The rules vary by state, including how subcontractors are treated, so check the current requirement with the scheme in your state. Our tradies insurance page sets out the other covers trade businesses commonly carry.
Common Questions
Will public liability pay to replace a slab I poured badly?
Generally not. Liability policies typically exclude the cost of fixing your own work. Resulting damage to other property may be treated differently, depending on the wording.
The builder wants to be noted on my policy. What does that involve?
They want their interest recorded on your public liability, usually with a current certificate of currency as evidence. Send the request to your broker rather than forwarding an old certificate.
I do formwork for other concreters. Do I need a separate policy?
Not necessarily a separate one, but formwork needs to appear in your occupation description, and whoever engages you will commonly ask for your own certificate of currency.
Talk It Through
Request a quote or call 1300 983 940 and we will match the occupation wording and covers to the concrete work you actually do.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.