Machine and attachments
Damage to the carrier, guarding, glazing and the processor, shear or grapple fitted.
Demolition Equipment Insurance
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Demolition Equipment Insurance
Cover for high reach excavators, processors and demolition attachments.
Demolition is underwritten as its own class because the machine is deliberately making structures collapse. The exposures are adjacent property, unplanned collapse, dust and vibration, hazardous material and falling debris damaging the machine itself. Many insurers restrict or exclude asbestos entirely, so what is in the building matters as much as what is on the schedule.
What is it?
Demolition plant usually means excavators fitted with demolition attachments: pulverisers, concrete processors, shears, grapples, hammers and sorting grabs, often on high reach or long front machines with cab guarding and protective glazing. Strip-out gear, material handlers and dust suppression cannons sit alongside. Attachments are frequently worth as much as the base machine and are scheduled separately.
What does demolition equipment insurance cover?
Adjacent property damage
Damage to neighbouring buildings, services and vehicles, the largest demolition liability exposure.
Falling debris and collapse
Damage to the machine from collapse and debris, which some wordings treat as an excluded risk.
What affects the cost?
- Machine and attachment values
- Structure heights and proximity to neighbours
- Presence of asbestos or contaminated material
- Method statements and engineering supervision
- Claims history and licensing
Worth raising on the call
- Asbestos is commonly excluded or heavily restricted, so licensed removal arrangements matter at quote.
- Engineered demolition method statements make a real difference to how the risk is presented.
- Cab guarding, glazing standards and machine specification are usually asked about before terms are offered.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Wall falls the wrong way
A section of party wall comes down onto the neighbouring building's roof and boundary fence during a strip out. Adjacent property damage is the largest demolition liability exposure, and the engineered method statement and sequence usually become the central evidence.
Suspended slab fails under the machine
A high reach excavator working on a suspended floor punches through a slab that had already been weakened and drops to the level below. Whether the machine damage is covered generally depends on how the wording treats collapse arising from the demolition work itself.
Debris through the cab glazing
Falling material strikes the guarding and cracks the protective glazing and boom cylinders on the carrier. Some wordings treat damage from falling debris as an expected part of demolition rather than an accident, so this is worth clarifying before the job starts.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming whether asbestos, and any claim arising from the disturbance or presence of asbestos, is excluded from both the plant and the liability sections, since restrictions here are common and broad.
- Worth confirming whether damage to the machine caused by falling debris, intentional collapse or unplanned collapse is covered, rather than treated as an inevitable consequence of the work.
- Worth confirming whether liability for vibration, weakening or removal of support to adjoining structures is covered and at what limit, since adjacent property is where the largest demolition claims land.
Common questions
Do I need a demolition licence in Australia?
Demolition licensing is state based, and most jurisdictions require a licence for demolition of structures above a specified height or involving load bearing elements or pre stressed concrete. Asbestos removal is licensed separately again, with different classes depending on the material. Check the requirements with your state WHS regulator, because insurers generally underwrite on the basis that you hold the correct licences.
Will insurers cover asbestos removal work?
Asbestos is commonly excluded or heavily restricted across both plant and liability wordings, and where cover is available it is usually through specialist markets on specific terms. Holding the right removal licence, using engaged licensed removalists and having clearance certificates in place all matter to how the risk is presented. It is worth resolving this before quoting on a building with asbestos in it.
How much does demolition equipment insurance cost?
It depends on the work as much as the machines, and no figure should be quoted before underwriting. Machine and attachment values, structure heights and proximity to neighbours, whether asbestos or contaminated material is present, method statements and engineering supervision, licensing and claims history are the main drivers. The liability limit required for adjacent property is often the biggest single factor.
Does my public liability cover the building I am demolishing?
Generally not in the way people expect. Property in your care, custody or control is commonly restricted or excluded, and the structure you have been engaged to demolish is not usually treated as third party property that the liability section protects. Damage to neighbouring property is the exposure the liability section is really there for. Confirm how the care, custody and control provision is worded before relying on it.
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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