Tradesman & Builder Liability Insurance in Spain

Tradesman & Builder Insurance in Spain

Trade insurance in Spain is built on RC de explotación — public liability that follows you off your own premises and onto the client's property, which is where a tradesman's risk actually sits. Around it go the modules the work demands: employers' liability once you have staff, cover for the tools and hired plant you carry, and cover for damage arising from work you have already completed. As authorised exclusive Generali agents we rate it on your declared trade and turnover, issue the certificates main contractors and clients ask for, and handle any claim in English.

What a Trade Policy Covers

• Public liability (RC de explotación) — injury to third parties and damage to their property caused by your work, on site and away from your own premises.
• RC locativa — damage to the premises you are working in or renting, which the general liability section does not always reach.
• Post-works liability (trabajos ejecutados) — damage arising after you have finished and left, within the policy's stated period. This is the section that answers the leak that shows up months later.
• Employers' liability (RC patronal) — claims by your own staff after an accident at work, with the per-victim sub-limit checked.
• Subcontractor liability — cover for work carried out on your behalf, where declared. Your subcontractors should still carry their own.
• Tools and plant — your own equipment and hired-in plant, against theft from secured storage and accidental damage.
• Legal defence and judicial bonds — the insurer funds the lawyers and posts court bonds where required.
• Cross-liability where several trades work on the same site.

Tools and Plant — the Van Myth

The single most common misunderstanding among British tradesmen in Spain: a Spanish van policy does not cover the tools inside the van. The motor policy covers the vehicle. There is no tools-in-van extension on it, and no amount of comprehensive cover changes that — see our van insurance in Spain page, which says the same thing.

Tools are insurable, just not there. They belong on a business equipment section within the trade policy, which is a different product with its own conditions. What to expect:

• Theft cover generally requires secured storage — a locked premises, a locked garage, or a van with signs of forced entry, and often not overnight on the street.
• Schedule the expensive items. Named high-value tools are covered for what they are worth; an unscheduled "tools" lump sum is usually subject to a per-item cap.
• Hired-in plant is a separate declaration — the hire company's contract normally makes you responsible for it from collection.
• Keep serial numbers and receipts. They are what turns a tool theft into a paid claim.

If your tools live at home rather than on site, a home contents policy may be the right place for them instead — but tell the insurer they are business tools, because standard contents wordings often exclude items used for trade.

Where the Constructor's Policy Begins

Two products serve building work in Spain, and the boundary is worth getting right before a job starts rather than after a claim:

• This page — trade liability. Maintenance, repair, installation, refits and reforms of existing property; a sole trader or a small team; the risk is what you damage and who you injure while working.
• Constructor's liability and decennial. New build, structural work, obra mayor under a licensed project, works-in-progress (todo riesgo construcción), promoter liability, and the compulsory ten-year seguro decenal on new housing.

If your work involves a project architect, a building licence for major works, or a client who is developing to sell, you are on the constructor's side of the line. If you are unsure which side a particular job falls on, ask before you quote for it — we check it in a phone call, and the answer occasionally changes what the client should be asking you to hold.

Optional Extras

• Higher liability limits — where a main contractor or public tender specifies €600,000, €1m or more.
• Extended post-works period — a longer tail on trabajos ejecutados for work with a three-year LOE exposure.
• Tools and plant all-risks — including accidental damage as well as theft.
• Hired-in plant — diggers, platforms, scaffolding and compressors.
• Professional indemnity where you advise, design or specify as well as install — see professional indemnity in Spain.
• Goods in transit — materials and client property you move — see transport insurance.
• Convenio colectivo policy for staff benefits your collective agreement mandates — see convenio (CLA) insurance.
• Bonds and avales for contracts requiring a performance guarantee — see bond & aval insurance.
• Your own income — a broken wrist stops a tradesman earning. See income protection for the self-employed.

How to Get a Quote

1. Call or email us — ring 966 461 625 or email info@turnerinsurance.es. Our English-speaking team is available Monday to Friday, 09:30–15:00.
2. Describe the work honestly — your trade or trades, annual turnover, whether you employ or subcontract, whether you work at height or with hot works, and the value of the tools you want covered.
3. We set out the cover levels — as authorised Generali agents we present the limits that match what your clients and main contractors require, and explain what falls outside. No pressure, no obligation.
4. Your policy is set up — we arrange everything and send your certificate and English-language documents promptly, in the form a main contractor or community will accept.

Tradesman & Builder Cover Levels

See also our constructor's liability & decennial page, public liability in Spain, van insurance and the autónomo insurance package.