Calculator · Builders Risk
What builders risk costs.
Builders risk is priced as a rate on completed value, charged once for the length of the build. It is not an annual premium. Reading it as one is the most common way owners misjudge the cost, because the number you are quoted covers the entire construction period, not each year of it.
Two things set the price: the value you are insuring, and the rate applied to it.
The base
Completed value sets the base.
The rate runs on completed value, the full finished value of the structure, which is the same number you set when you size the policy. Get that number right and the pricing follows from it. Get it wrong and the premium is precise about the wrong figure. How much builders risk you need works through completed value in full.
Because the rate is a percentage of that base, cost scales with the build. A $2M build and a $6M build at the same rate are three times apart on premium, which is expected. What is less obvious is everything that moves the rate itself.
What moves the rate
Four inputs do most of the work.
Construction type. Frame rates highest, because a half-built frame house is more exposed to fire and wind than masonry or noncombustible construction at the same stage. The more combustible the structure during the build, the higher the rate.
New construction or renovation. Renovations rate higher than ground-up builds of the same value. Hot work next to existing construction, conditions you inherited rather than built, and the standing structure inside the limit all add risk the rate reflects.
Term. Builders risk is written for the length of the build, and the cost does not scale one-to-one with months. A longer term costs more in total but less per month, and short builds run into minimum premiums, a floor the policy will not price below no matter how quick or small the job. Plan the term to the real schedule, because extending late can cost more than buying the length up front.
Location. This is why the estimate keys off your ZIP rather than a state or a national average. The same house costs more to insure mid-build in a coastal wind zone, a wildfire-exposed foothill, or a seismic region, and job-site theft risk varies street to street. Your ZIP carries the local hazard and fire-protection picture that a broad average washes out. Flood and earthquake are priced separately where you need them, which the coverage mechanics cover.
What to expect
A range, not a quote.
As a working expectation, builders risk on a custom home tends to land in the low single digits as a percentage of completed value for the full term. Frame construction, short terms, and high-hazard locations push toward the top of that range and past it; masonry or noncombustible construction, longer terms, and low-hazard sites sit at the bottom.
That is a starting point, not a quote. The spread is wide because the drivers above move it, and the only way to a real number is to run your actual value, construction, term, and location.
Running your number
The estimator, end to end.
Completed value, construction type, project type, term, and ZIP are what the estimate needs, and they are what the calculator runs on. It returns a premium range for the full term and the effective rate as a percentage of completed value, which is as close as an estimate gets before underwriting looks at the file. Treat the range as the bracket your real quote should fall inside, not the quote itself.
Builders risk estimator
Full-term premium range on completed value.
Full finished value of the structure, not the contract price.
ZIP 98004 · WA.
Estimated full-term premium
$52,173 – $70,587
Effective rate: 2.05% of completed value for the full term.
Directional estimate for planning. Flood and earthquake are priced separately by endorsement. A licensed advisor confirms the number against your actual project.
Where this connects
Price depends on the number you carry in.
The number this produces depends entirely on the completed value you carry in, so if that is not settled yet, start with how much builders risk you need. For what the policy actually does in exchange for the premium, how builders risk works.
The term length also shapes the premium, and the term is set by the handoff to homeowners at occupancy. Builders risk vs. homeowners covers that transition and the gap to avoid at the wrong moment.
Common questions
On price, specifically.
Priced against your actual build.
Share the completed value, construction, term, and location, and a licensed advisor will return a bindable range keyed to your project rather than a national average.