This week on The Subbies Toolbox Podcast, I’m unpacking one of the most misunderstood insurance clauses in commercial construction contracts: Contract Works Insurance.

If your builder has asked you to hold this policy and you’ve nodded along without really knowing what it covers, you are definitely not alone.

In this episode, I explain what Contract Works Insurance actually is, how it interacts with “care of the works” clauses in your subcontract, and why more builders are trying to shift this risk downstream onto subcontractors.

We talk through real examples across different trades including waterproofing, electrical, formwork, cranes, ceilings and partitions, joinery and fire services, so you can start making commercial sense of whether this insurance even applies to your trade in the first place.

I also break down the difference between Contract Works Insurance and Public Liability Insurance, how builders use these clauses to avoid paying excesses under their own policies, and the contract mark-ups we use inside The Subbies Toolbox Membership to help subbies push back properly.

In this episode we cover:

• What Contract Works Insurance actually covers
• Which trades are most exposed under these clauses
• The dangerous “care of the works” wording hidden in builder contracts
• Accepted risks clauses and what should be added to them
• The difference between Contract Works and Public Liability Insurance
• How stolen materials and damaged work often trigger disputes
• Practical contract mark-ups to better protect your business

If you’ve ever signed a subcontract without properly understanding the insurance section, this episode will help you read these clauses with a completely different lens moving forward.

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Michelle Cirson is construction lawyer, adjudicator and former commercial builder’s CA who now works exclusively with Australian subcontractors. She helps commercial subcontractors manage their builders’ contracts and get paid on time, without losing jobs and blowing up builder relationships. Michelle is the founder of The Subbies Toolbox Membership.

If you want to understand how this system actually works and where subcontractors tend to get caught out, you’ll find more resources at www.subbiestoolbox.com.au