Owned plant schedule
Machines you own, generally listed individually on an agreed or market value basis.
Civil Works Equipment Insurance
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Civil Works Equipment Insurance
Cover for mixed plant fleets on roads, subdivisions and drainage.
Civil contractors run mixed fleets that move between jobs constantly: excavators, rollers, trucks, dumpers, pumps and traffic gear. The risk is less about any one machine and more about the joins, hired-in plant, contract requirements set by the principal, and the small items that never made it onto the schedule. Underground services sit behind most large civil claims.
What is it?
Civil works plant covers what is used on roads, subdivisions, drainage, bulk earthworks and utility installation. That typically means excavators, loaders, rollers, graders, dumpers, water carts, trenchers, pumps, generators, compactors and light towers, alongside hired-in specialist machines. Fleets usually mix owned, financed and hired plant, and each of those is treated differently under a plant wording.
What does civil works equipment insurance cover?
Hired-in plant section
Machines hired from others where the agreement makes you liable for damage and continuing hire charges.
Small plant and tools
Pumps, saws, compactors, lasers and light gear, usually covered under an unspecified item limit.
What affects the cost?
- Total fleet value and machine mix
- Proportion of hired-in plant
- Contract types and principal requirements
- Site security and overnight storage
- Claims history across the fleet
Worth raising on the call
- Hire charges keep running after a machine is damaged, and that continuing cost is often overlooked.
- Contract conditions frequently demand cover levels a standard plant policy does not carry by default.
- Underground service strikes are usually the largest civil exposure and need to be checked specifically.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Hired trencher damaged mid job
A hired-in trencher is damaged when a trench wall slumps against it on a subdivision job. The hire company charges for the repair and keeps invoicing hire for the weeks the machine is off the road, which is the part most contractors do not budget for.
Long weekend theft off an open site
Light towers, a plate compactor, a generator and two pumps disappear from an unfenced subdivision site over a long weekend. Because each item sits under an unspecified small plant limit, the settlement is frequently capped well below what it costs to replace the lot.
Gas main struck in a subdivision
An excavator digging a service trench hits a live gas main that was marked but not proved, forcing an evacuation and a network shutdown. The network operator's costs, the head contractor's delay claim and the regulator's interest all arrive at once, and it is the liability wording that decides how much of that is covered.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming whether the hired-in plant section covers continuing hire charges and the hire company's consequential loss claims, not just the physical damage to the machine.
- Worth confirming what per item and total limits apply to unspecified small plant, and whether theft from an open, unfenced or partially fenced site is covered at all.
- Worth confirming whether the policy can provide what the principal's contract requires, such as the principal noted as an interested party, a cross liability clause and a waiver of subrogation, since standard wordings do not always include these.
Common questions
Does public liability cover damage to underground services?
Underground services are commonly treated as a restricted or conditional exposure rather than automatically covered, and some wordings sub-limit them or exclude them without an extension. Where cover is provided, insurers generally expect a current Before You Dig Australia enquiry and services proved by hand or vacuum excavation. It is worth confirming the limit, the conditions and whether they match how your crews actually work.
If the hire company offers a damage waiver, do I still need hired-in plant cover?
Hire company waivers are usually partial. They often carry a significant excess, exclude theft, misuse, overturning or operator error, and rarely cover continuing hire charges. Reading the waiver against the hire agreement and against your policy's hired-in section is the only way to see the real gap, and on a long hire the waiver cost can exceed the insurance cost.
What does civil plant insurance cost?
It depends on the fleet and the work, and a figure before underwriting would be a guess. Total fleet value and machine mix, the proportion of hired-in plant, contract types and principal requirements, site security and overnight storage, and claims history across the fleet are the main drivers. Whether you need underground services liability at a meaningful limit is often the single largest factor.
What insurance do civil contracts usually require?
It varies by principal, but civil contracts commonly require public and products liability at a specified limit, plant and equipment cover, workers compensation, and sometimes contract works and professional indemnity where any design responsibility sits with you. Many also require specific notations and clauses. The practical step is to have the contract's insurance clause reviewed before signing, because compliance cannot be arranged retrospectively after an incident.
General information only. Cover, limits and exclusions depend on the PDS, TMD, eligibility, underwriting and the policy terms. See mobile plant machinery insurance for the wider picture.
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