Builders Risk Insurance
Coverage for building and renovating your home.
For the year or two your home is under construction, it exists as a half-finished asset on an open job site: framed but not dried in, stocked with materials, exposed to fire, wind, water, and theft. The policy you assume covers your home does not cover it yet, and your contractor's policy was never built to. Builders risk covers that window, from the day the build starts to the day you take occupancy and your homeowners policy takes over.
12–24 mo
Typical policy term for a custom-home build.
Completed value
How the policy is sized, not the construction contract price.
Owner-controlled
Named-insured structure that protects your money in the finished home.
One handoff
Coordinated bind between builders risk and homeowners at occupancy.
What It Is
A term policy for work in progress.
Builders risk, sometimes called course of construction insurance, covers a structure and the materials going into it while the work is underway. It pays for direct physical loss to the project: the building itself, plus materials, fixtures, and building components on site, in transit, and in temporary storage.
It is a term policy, not an annual one. Coverage attaches when the build begins and ends when the project is complete and you occupy the home. That endpoint is where most coverage gaps happen, and it is why the handoff to your homeowners policy has to be timed, not assumed.
Good builders risk for a custom home is written on a special form (all risk) basis: it covers direct physical loss from any cause except the ones the policy names. Fire, windstorm, theft, vandalism, and construction-site water damage are typically in. Flood and earthquake usually are not, though both can be added by endorsement. Faulty workmanship, faulty design, wear, and mechanical breakdown are standard exclusions.
The named insured question is the one to get right up front. A policy you control protects your money in the finished home. A policy the general contractor controls protects the contractor's contract value. Those are not the same number, and they do not protect the same party.
What a well-structured builders risk policy covers.
The structure under construction
Direct physical loss to the building itself while work is underway, on a special-form (all risk) basis.
Materials & fixtures
Materials, millwork, and building components on site, in transit, and in temporary storage.
Soft costs (by endorsement)
Loan interest, property taxes, architect fees, and rent when a covered loss delays completion.
Getting Started
Everything you'll want to know.
Four questions cover most of what matters before you buy: how the policy works, how much coverage you need, what it costs, and how it hands off to homeowners at completion.
The Basics
How builders risk works
A term policy written on a special-form basis: what's covered, what's excluded, and why the named insured question is the one to get right up front.
Coverage Amount
How much builders risk you need
Sizing to completed value rather than the construction contract, why soft costs matter on a financed build, and how renovations change the calculation.
Pricing
What builders risk costs
How premium moves with construction type, project length, deductible, and the endorsements you add for flood, earthquake, and soft costs.
Handoff
Builders risk vs. homeowners
Two sequential policies, one critical handoff. Why standard homeowners forms restrict dwellings under construction, and how to time the bind at occupancy.
What It Responds To
The losses an active job site sees.
Fire, weather, theft, and delay are the categories every builders risk policy is written against. The specifics of your build decide which endorsements to add.
Fire on the job site
The leading cause of loss on active builds — covered on a special-form policy.
Windstorm damage
Wind and hail losses to the structure and materials during construction.
Construction-site water damage
Broken lines, roof openings, and weather intrusion before the building dries in.
Theft & vandalism
Materials, appliances, and fixtures stolen or damaged on site or in temporary storage.
Materials in transit
Building components covered while moving between supplier, storage, and the job site.
Delay-driven soft costs
Loan interest, taxes, and rent when a covered loss pushes the completion date.
When To Look Closer
If any of this sounds like your project.
Most owner-controlled builders risk policies are placed early, before ground breaks, because the sizing and the handoff to homeowners are decisions that get harder to fix once construction is underway.
Scenario
You're building a custom home
A 12–24 month build is exposed to fire, wind, water, and theft the whole way.
Scenario
You're doing a gut renovation
Vacancy and construction language in your homeowners policy can strip coverage from the standing house.
Scenario
The contractor is offering to carry the policy
A contractor-controlled policy protects the contract value, not the finished home's value to you.
Scenario
The project is financed
Soft costs — interest, taxes, architect fees — keep accruing if a loss delays completion.
Scenario
Material prices are climbing mid-build
Completed value can outrun the original contract, and the policy needs to keep up.
Scenario
You're near completion and moving in soon
The handoff to homeowners has to be timed, not assumed.
Where Bulwark Fits
One program, two policies, no gap.
We structure owner-controlled builders risk alongside the homeowners program that takes over at completion, so the coverage sizing, the endorsements, and the bind dates line up across both. If you are planning a build or a major renovation, the earlier the policy is scoped, the fewer gaps there are to close later.
FAQ
Quick answers before you ask.
The questions we hear most often about builders risk: how the policy is sized, who should hold it, and how it hands off to homeowners at completion.
Talk to an advisor →Ready When You Are
Scoped around what you're building.
Tell us about the project, the timeline, and who's on contract. A licensed advisor will return a right-sized recommendation in about a day.