Construction Liability - BIBA calls for change

institutions, could we then move to a second phase of lobbying those in Government

who have the ability to help the professions secure the cover they need.

That lobbying saw some initial success and we were pleased that Government has

introduced the EWS1 insurance scheme which is, to our knowledge, the first such

intervention of its type. We recognise, though, that this is only a small part of a much

bigger picture, but we had to start somewhere. Our aim is to next look at the market

for those working on remediation projects in support of the Government’s BSF

(Building Safety Fund) scheme.

Paul : Craig, what is that bigger picture?

We can’t hope to do it justice today, but the sum of the parts of what we’re calling for

is nothing more, or less, than a revolution in the legal and insurance environment for

everyone working in construction. This isn’t about the usual arguments which pit

consultant against contractor, or client against design team: it’s about changing, for

the better, the environment for everyone.

As was said at one of our recent industry roundtables, the end of this journey needs

to be not having created standard contracts, or having a law on proportionate

liability, or even increasing fees. The end point needs to be a world in which

construction professionals are highly valued and that the role sits alongside the most

admired professions in society.

That must be the destination in order to create a sustainable future for those working

in construction. At least for us, the journey to get there is about making some

headway on the legal and insurance factors that lie in the way. This aspect alone

contains many necessary steps relating to how risk is allocated, how that risk is

insured and what the law across the UK and Ireland says. These are some

significant challenges and that’s why we’re working with like -minded organisations to

move some of these ideas forward.

But it is, of course, much more than an insurance or legal problem. Having a future

where ‘engineers’ and ‘architects’ (and there’ll come a point where we’ll need to be