Draftsman Insurance Policy Information
Draftsman Insurance. In years gone by, engineers and architects would mostly work out the design to built, then it would be the responsibility of the draftsman to redraw sketches and distribute to builders. Nowadays, draftsmen are taking on more and more responsibility.
A draftsman will work with clients to offer technical building drawings, for architectural or engineering work.
On a day to day basis, the job of a draftsman entails creating sketches, speaking directly with clients, and advising the best approach to design a building, a piece of machinery, or transport device.
This is a very important undertaking to get right. However, you're at risk for numerous things and despite your best efforts, minor miscalculations can happen.
One of your prime risks is liabilities related to clients and visitors, alongside other general risks of any occupation. As a result, it is becoming more necessary for a draftsperson to ensure that they have been fully covered with the suitable insurance.
Draftsman insurance can help avert financial struggle following an unexpected event.
Draftsman insurance protects your firm from lawsuits with rates as low as $27/mo. Get a fast quote and your certificate of insurance now.
Below are some answers to commonly asked draftsman insurance questions:
- What Is Draftsman Insurance?
- How Much Does Draftsman Insurance Cost?
- Why Do Draftsmen Need Insurance?
- What Type Of Insurance Do Draftsman Need?
- What Does Draftsman Insurance Cover & Pay For?
What Is Draftsman Insurance?
Draftsman insurance is a type of professional liability insurance specifically designed for draftspersons, architects, engineers, and other professionals involved in the design and planning of construction projects. This insurance provides coverage for errors, omissions, and other mistakes that can occur during the design phase of a project and result in financial losses for clients.
The insurance covers the cost of defending against claims and provides compensation for damages incurred. This coverage is important for protecting the professional's financial stability and reputation.
How Much Does Draftsman Insurance Cost?
The average price of a standard $1,000,000/$2,000,000 General Liability Insurance policy for small draftsman businesses ranges from $27 to $39 per month based on location, size, payroll, sales and experience.
Why Do Draftsmen Need Insurance?
The main reasons why a draftsman would need to get draftsman insurance, relate to the state they are working in, the kind of work that they are doing, and any other licensing arrangements and legal requirements they need to adhere to.
And as any other business, it is sensible to want to protect your work and yourself against potential claims - even doing CAD/CAM | computer-aided design work. This is because in any complex project, there is always a certain inherent amount of risk whether you own your own firm, are an independent draftsman or work as a design consultant.
On the other hand, you may have the impression that you don't have liability since a licensed engineer or architect signs off on your work. Nonetheless, if there is an issue, often everyone involved in the assignment may be sued, even if you aren't at fault.
In case this happens to you, you will be liable for your own protection and defense until liability is established.
Most small design consulting firms and independent contractors don't have big financial muscle. In case you or your firm was to be litigated for an error or omission, your legal defense rates would add up fast. Even worse, if a ruling were made against you, having to pay recompense could be sufficient to sink your business.
Having the right draftsman insurance will help protect you in the event the worst happens. This will allow your firm to continue to flourish while you fight any legal charges.
What Type Of Insurance Do Draftsman Need?
Draftsman insurance can fit your individual business needs. Small design businesses and independent design consultants can consider the following types of coverages:
General Liability Insurance: This is important draftsman insurance, since it includes numerous types of coverage. One is premises liability - in case any customers visit your offices and get injured on the sidewalk or in your shop.
If measurements were incorrect because of the drafting job you completed and that resulted in damage to the new building, this will be covered under completed operations.
BOP (Business Owner's Policy): As a business owner of a design firm, the majority of your work will comprise a combination of science and artistry. Since many of your project assignments are built on intellect, your drafting business might not suffer the same nature of physical threats or possibility of property damage as other kinds of firms.
In case your insurance provider concludes that your business risks are small, you may be eligible for a BOP. A Business Owner's Policy combines your property general liability policies (including business income) to give you one discounted draftsman insurance bundle.
Professional Liability: Also know as errors and omissions (E&O), Professional liability is specifically designed to protect a drafting business against negligence claims from third parties.
The claims can be that professional duty has been breached or for bodily injury or property damage alleged to be attributed to the actions or omissions by the professional.
Business Property: In case your portable equipment, like electronic devices, get stolen or lost, they can be very costly to replace. Business property insurance policy helps ensure that the portable items you use in your work as a draftsman are covered.
With a commercial property coverage, your business can also be covered against fire, theft wind and perils.
Workers' Compensation: Workers comp is a requirement in most states for any non-owner or partner employees. It provides coverage for your employees against work-related illnesses or injuries.
Workers comp provides basic benefits, including medical care, temporary disability benefits, permanent disability benefits, supplemental job displacement benefits and a return-to-work supplement, and death benefits.
What Does Draftsman Insurance Cover & Pay For?
Draftsmen companies, like any other business, can face various legal issues and may be sued for several reasons. Some common reasons for lawsuits against draftsmen companies include:
- Professional negligence: Draftsmen may be held liable for any errors or omissions in their work, leading to financial losses or safety hazards. Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, can help cover the costs of defending the lawsuit, as well as any damages awarded to the claimant if the company is found liable.
- Breach of contract: If a draftsman fails to fulfill their contractual obligations, they may be sued for breach of contract. Commercial general liability insurance can help cover legal fees and potential settlement costs related to such lawsuits, minimizing the financial impact on the company.
- Intellectual property infringement: Draftsmen companies can be sued if their work infringes on another party's intellectual property rights, such as copyrights, patents, or trademarks. Intellectual property insurance can help cover the costs of legal defense and potential damages if the company is found liable for infringement.
- Employment-related lawsuits: Draftsmen companies can face employment-related lawsuits for issues such as discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, or wage disputes. Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) can help cover the costs of defending against these claims and any damages awarded to the claimant if the company is found liable.
- Workplace accidents: If an employee or third party is injured on the company's premises or due to the company's operations, the draftsman company can be held liable. Workers' compensation insurance can help cover medical expenses, lost wages, and potential legal fees for employee injuries, while commercial general liability insurance can help cover the costs associated with third-party injury claims.
- Property damage: Draftsmen companies may be sued if their operations cause damage to a client's property or other third-party property. Commercial property insurance can help cover the costs of repairing or replacing damaged property, as well as any legal fees and potential damages awarded in a lawsuit.
For each of these scenarios, having the appropriate insurance coverage can help protect draftsmen companies from significant financial losses resulting from lawsuits. It is essential to work with a knowledgeable insurance agent to ensure the company is adequately covered for the specific risks it faces in its line of work.
Commercial Insurance And Business Industry Classification
- SIC CODE: 7389 Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified
- NAICS CODE: 541340 Drafting Services
- Suggested Workers Compensation Code(s): 8810 Clerical Office Employees NOC
Description for 7389: Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified
Division I: Services | Major Group 87: Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management, And Related Services | Industry Group 872: Accounting, Auditing, And Bookkeeping Services
7389 Business Services, Not Elsewhere Classified: Establishments primarily engaged in furnishing business services, not elsewhere classified, such as bondspersons, drafting services, lecture bureaus, notaries public, sign painting, speakers' bureaus, water softening services, and auctioneering services, on a commission or fee basis.
- Agents and brokers for authors and nonperforming artist
- Apparel pressing service for the trade
- Appraisers, except real estate appraisers
- Arbitration and conciliation services
- Artists' agents and brokers, except performing artists
- Auctioneering service on a commission or fee basis
- Authors' agents and brokers
- Automobile recovery service
- Automobile repossession service
- Automobile shows, flower shows, and home shows: promoters of
- Bartering services for businesses
- Batik work (handprinting on textiles)
- Bondspersons
- Bottle exchanges
- Bronzing baby shoes
- Business brokers (buying and selling business enterprises)
- Charge account service (shopping plates) collection by individual
- Check validation service
- Cloth: cutting to length, bolting, or winding for textile distributors
- Contractors' disbursement control
- Convention bureaus
- Convention decorators
- Copyright protection service
- Correct time service
- Cosmetic kits, assembling and packaging
- Cotton inspection service, not connected with transportation
- Cotton sampler service
- Coupon redemption service, except trading stamps
- Credit card service (collection by individual firms)
- Decoration service for special events
- Demonstration service, separate from sale
- Directories, telephone: distribution on a contract or fee basis
- Divers, commercial
- Drafting service, except temporary help
- Drawback service, customs
- Drive-a-way automobile service
- Embroidering of advertising on shirts, etc.
- Engrossing, e.g., diplomas and resolutions
- Exhibits, building of: by industrial contractors
- Field warehousing, not public warehousing
- Filling pressure containers (aerosol) with hair spray, insecticides, etc.
- Fire extinguishers, service of
- Firefighting service, other than forestry or public
- Flagging service (traffic control)
- Floats, decoration of
- Florists' telegraph service
- Folding and refolding service: textile and apparel
- Fundraising on a contract or fee basis
- Gas systems, contract conversion from manufactured to natural gas
- Handtool designers
- Handwriting analysis
- Hosiery pairing on a contract or fee basis
- Hotel reservation service
- Identification engraving service
- Inspection of commodities, not connected with transportation
- Interior decorating consulting service, except painters and paper
- Interior designing service, except painters and paper hangers
- Inventory computing service
- Labeling bottles, cans, cartons, etc. for the trade: not printing
- Laminating of photographs (coating photographs with plastics)
- Lecture bureaus
- Lettering service
- Liquidators of merchandise on a contract or fee basis
- Mannequin decorating service
- Map drafting service
- Mapmaking, including aerial
- Message service, telephone answering except beeper service
- Metal slitting and shearing on a contract or fee basis
- Meter readers, remote
- Microfilm recording and developing service
- Mounting merchandise on cards on a contract or fee basis
- Music distribution systems, except coin-operated
- Notaries public
- Packaging and labeling service (not packing and crating)
- Paralegal service
- Parcel packing service (packaging)
- Patent brokers
- Patrol of electric transmission or gas lines
- Photogrammetric mapping service (not professional engineers)
- Photographic library service, still
- Photography brokers
- Pipeline and power line inspection services
- Playwrights' brokers
- Post office contract stations
- Presorting mail service
- Press clipping service
- Printed circuitry graphic layout
- Process serving service
- Produce weighing service, not connected with transportation
- Product sterilization service
- Promoters of home shows and flower shows
- Racetrack cleaning, except buildings
- Radio broadcasting music checkers
- Radio transcription service
- Recording studios on a contract or fee basis
- Redemption of trading stamps
- Repossession service
- Restaurant reservation service
- Rug binding for the trade
- Safety inspection service, except automotive
- Salvaging of damaged merchandise, not engaged in sales
- Sampling of commodities, not connected with transportation
- Scrap steel cutting on a contract or fee basis
- Shoe designers
- Showcard painting
- Shrinking textiles for tailors and dressmakers
- Sign painting and lettering shops
- Solvents recovery service on a contract or fee basis
- Speakers' bureaus
- Sponging textiles for tailors and dressmakers
- Styling of fashions, apparel, furniture, and textiles
- Styling wigs for the trade
- Swimming pool cleaning and maintenance
- Switchboard operation of private branch exchanges
- Tape slitting for the trade (cutting plastics, leather, etc. into widths)
- Tax collection agencies: collecting for a city, county, or State
- Tax title dealers: agencies for city, county, or State
- Telemarketing (telephone marketing) service on a contract or fee basis
- Telephone answering, except beeper service
- Telephone solicitation service on a contract or fee basis
- Textile designers
- Textile folding and packing services
- Time-share condominium exchanges
- Tobacco sheeting service on a contract or fee basis
- Tourist information bureaus
- Trade show arrangement
- Trading stamp promotion and sale to stores
- Trading stamp redemption
- Translation service
- Water softener service
- Weighing foods and other commodities not connected with
- Welcoming service
- Window trimming service
- Yacht brokers
Draftsman Insurance - The Bottom Line
These insurance policies are flexible. To cover most, if not all your professional risks, you require multiple insurance plans. Industry specific experts may have a clue of the best insurance packages and providers available for your needs.
They can help you choose coverage from these draftsman insurance policies that is perfectly matched to the needs of your business. These draftsman insurance plans will cover most of the business risks.
Additional Resources For Professional Services Insurance
Get informed about small business professional services insurance, including Professional liability, aka errors and omissions (E&O insurance), that protects your business against claims that a professional service you provided caused your client financial loss.
- Accounting
- Actuaries
- Answering Service
- Architects
- Armored Car
- Attorney Lawyer
- Auctioneer
- Auditor
- Background Music Services
- Bookkeeping
- Business Consulting
- Chemical Engineers
- Civil Engineers
- Claims Adjuster
- Commercial Laundries
- Commodity Broker
- Corporate Wellness
- Couriers
- Court Reporter
- Credit Bureaus
- Debt Collection Agency
- Draftsman
- Detective Agency
- Diaper Services
- Electrical Engineering
- Engineering
- Environmental Consultant
- Executive, Career & Life Coaching
- Executive Search Firm
- Expert Witness
- Financial Planner
- Financial Services
- Funeral Directors
- HR Consultant
- Inspection Bureaus
- Insurance Agents & Brokers Insurance
- Interpreter
- Mediator - Arbitrator
- Medical Billing
- Music, Drama & Dance Therapy
- Notary
- Office Machine Repair & Maintenance
- Piano Tuners
- Project Management
- Safety Consultants
- Speakers Bureaus
- Stockbrokers
- Surveyor
- Tax Preparer
- Temporary Staffing
- Title Abstractors
- Valet Parking
- Specialty Consultants
- Specialty Service Business
The professional services industry, which includes occupations such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, and architects, often deals with sensitive and complex issues that carry a high risk of liability. These professionals are expected to provide their clients with expert advice and guidance, and any mistakes or oversights can result in significant financial consequences for both the client and the professional. This is where insurance comes into play.
Business insurance provides protection against the financial repercussions of potential mistakes or accidents that may occur while providing professional services. For example, a lawyer may make an error in their legal representation that leads to a financial loss for their client. Without insurance, the lawyer would be personally responsible for covering the cost of this loss. Insurance helps to protect professionals from these types of financial burdens and allows them to focus on providing high-quality services to their clients.
In addition to protecting against financial losses, commercial insurance can also provide legal defense for professionals facing legal action as a result of their work. This can be especially important for professionals in high-stress or high-risk fields, such as doctors or architects, who may be at a higher risk of being sued for professional negligence.
Overall, the professional services industry needs insurance to protect against financial losses and legal action, ensuring that professionals can continue to provide high-quality services to their clients without the added stress and burden of potential financial consequences.
Minimum recommended small business insurance coverage: Business Personal Property, Employee Dishonesty, Accounts Receivable, Computers, Valuable Papers and Records, General Liability, Employee Benefits Liability, Professional Liability, Umbrella Liability, Hired and Non-owned Auto Liability & Workers Compensation.
Other commercial insurance policies to consider: Building, Business Income with Extra Expense, Earthquake, Equipment Breakdown, Flood, Computer Fraud, Forgery, Money and Securities, Special Floater, Cyber Liability, Employment-related Practices Liability, Business Auto Liability and Physical Damage and Stop Gap Liability.
