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Contractors who design
Conservatory installers need professional indemnity insurance if they design or specify what they build, design bases, fit replacement roofs, or tell customers whether planning permission or building regulations approval is needed. Fitting a system someone else designed carries less professional risk, but your survey and advice are still yours. Public liability covers accidental injury and damage; it usually won’t pay when a conservatory was designed or advised on wrongly and has to be altered or rebuilt.
Part of: Professional indemnity for design and build contractors
In short
Most conservatory claims are about decisions, not accidents: a base not designed for the ground, a solid roof on frames never meant to carry it, or advice that no approval was needed. In England and Wales, a ground-level conservatory of up to 30 m² with compliant safety glazing is exempt from most of the Building Regulations, but the exemption is conditional. Knocking through or extending the house’s heating brings the energy efficiency rules back, and LABC says a solid replacement roof loses the exemption. Work on existing homes completed after 28 June 2022 is also covered by section 2A of the Defective Premises Act, with a 15-year limitation period.
Last reviewed 5 October 2026 by the Apex professional indemnity team.
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance usually responds when a client says your professional judgement cost them money. A conservatory business makes those judgements on every job: the survey, the base, the choice of frame and roof system, the glazing, and the answer to the customer’s first question, which is usually whether they need permission.
Public liability (PL) is built for accidents: a glass unit dropped on a passer-by, a skip that scrapes a neighbour’s car, a fire started while cutting. It doesn’t usually pay for a conservatory that is structurally inadequate, too hot to use or built without an approval it needed. Those are failures of design and advice, and they belong with PI. Neither policy normally pays to put right poor workmanship.
Where the risk sits depends on how you trade:
None of the following are real claims; they are illustrative examples of the allegations conservatory businesses meet.
Each allegation is that you didn’t take the care a competent conservatory designer or adviser would have taken. Any physical damage follows from that decision rather than from an accident.
The references below apply in England and Wales, except the permitted development guidance, which covers England only. A claim about a conservatory is usually argued by comparing what you did, or told the customer, with these.
| Rule or source | What it says | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Building Regulations 2010: Schedule 2 (Class 7) and regulations 9 and 21 | A ground-level conservatory of no more than 30 m², with glazing that meets the safety glazing requirements, is exempt. The energy efficiency requirements return if it is opened up to the house or heated from it, and Part P still applies to electrics fed from the dwelling. | Telling a customer a project is exempt is a professional statement, and it has to be right for the design as built. |
| LABC guidance on solid conservatory roofs | Replacing a translucent roof with a solid one means the alteration no longer benefits from the exemption. Building control will check the existing structure, including foundations and door supports. | Replacement roofs bring building control, structural checks and design responsibility. |
| Householder permitted development (government technical guidance) | Conservatories fall under the householder rights for extensions, although the condition requiring materials similar to the house does not apply to them. Rights can be removed by an Article 4 direction or a planning condition, and do not apply to flats. | Planning advice has to reflect the property’s history, not just the conservatory’s size. |
| Consumer Rights Act 2015, s.49 | A trader supplying a service must perform it with reasonable care and skill. | The standard most homeowner claims are argued on, alongside the contract. |
| Defective Premises Act 1972, s.2A | Inserted by the Building Safety Act 2022 for work completed after 28 June 2022. A business taking on work to a building containing a dwelling must do it in a workmanlike or professional manner, with proper materials, so that, as regards the work, the dwelling is fit for habitation when the work is completed. The duty is owed to the client and to anyone who holds or acquires an interest in the dwelling. | Later owners can claim too, and the Building Safety Act set a 15-year limitation period for these claims. |
Section 2A has a detail that matters to sales-led firms: a business that arranges for someone else to carry out the work is treated as having taken it on. Selling the conservatory and subcontracting the build doesn’t move the duty away from you.
Almost every conservatory sale includes a conversation about approvals. The answer depends on the finished design, not the brochure. The Class 7 exemption covers a ground-level conservatory of up to 30 m² with safety glazing, but three common choices take a project outside it or bring parts of the regulations back:
Three habits protect you and the customer:
Planning is a separate question. Most conservatories are built under householder permitted development rights, but those rights can be removed by an Article 4 direction or a condition on an earlier permission. If you tell customers they don’t need planning permission, check those points first or suggest they get written confirmation from the council.
| Usually covered by PI | Often excluded or limited | Needs a different policy |
|---|---|---|
| Negligent design of bases, frames and roofs | The cost of putting right your own defective workmanship | Injury or accidental damage to a customer’s home during the work (public liability) |
| Wrong advice on building regulations, planning or exemptions | Guarantees and warranties that promise more than reasonable care | Protecting customers’ guarantees if you stop trading (insurance-backed guarantees) |
| Errors in surveys of existing structures before a replacement roof | Work you knew did not comply with the regulations | Damage to the conservatory before handover (contract works) |
| Specifying the wrong glazing, roof or ventilation for how the room will be used | Activities outside the business description, such as structural design for larger extensions | Injury to your own employees (employers’ liability) |
| Defence costs, including expert surveys | Claims you were aware of before the policy began | Tools, vans and stock (property and motor policies) |
Many conservatory firms buy PI as a section of a combined trade policy. Check whether it covers design and advice in their own right or only design that is incidental to installation, and whether it carries a lower limit than the rest of the policy. What is covered in the end depends on the insurer agreeing to the risk and on the policy wording.
Homeowners rarely ask to see a PI certificate, so most conservatory installers choose their own limit. Base it on the worst realistic claim: taking down and rebuilding your largest conservatory or orangery, plus engineers’ and building control fees and legal costs. Builders, developers and housing providers who subcontract to you will usually set a minimum in the contract instead.
Time matters more than most installers expect. PI is claims-made, so the policy in force when the homeowner complains is the one that responds, not the one you held when you built the conservatory. A section 2A claim about work completed after 28 June 2022 can be brought for up to 15 years, including by a later owner. If you retire, sell or close the business, arrange run-off cover so that work stays protected: run-off cover explained.
At renewal, tell your insurer about any change in what you sell, especially a move into solid roofs, orangeries or larger extensions. A policy written for glazed conservatories may not have contemplated structural alterations.
A complete proposal gets better terms than a bare one, and a broker can only present what you tell us. Have these ready:
Speak to a broker
PI for conservatory installers, placed by a named broker
Start the online proposal and save it as you go, or leave your number and a named broker will call you back, usually the same working day.
Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker based in Bristol, established in 2009 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are not tied to one insurer: we work with over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates through wholesale brokers, and every client has a named broker who handles the placement, mid-term changes, certificates for clients and the renewal.
Most do. Anyone who designs or specifies conservatories, designs bases, fits replacement roofs or advises customers on planning and building regulations is exposed to claims that public liability won’t meet, because PL is aimed at accidents rather than design or advice errors. PI responds to those claims, subject to the policy terms.
No law requires conservatory installers to hold PI, and homeowners seldom ask for it. Builders, developers and housing providers who subcontract work usually set a PI requirement in the contract. If you belong to a trade association or certification scheme, check its own insurance rules as well.
It can, if the claim is that your survey, design or advice was negligent, for example fitting a heavy roof without checking the frames and base could carry it. PI does not usually pay to rectify poor workmanship, and the policy must include the structural work you do, so tell your insurer you fit solid roofs.
For work on an existing home completed after 28 June 2022, the Defective Premises Act allows claims for up to 15 years, and the duty extends to later owners. Contract and negligence claims have their own time limits. Because PI is claims-made, you need cover in force when the claim arrives, or run-off cover if you have stopped trading.
Public liability may respond to accidental damage the leak causes to the customer’s property, subject to its terms. Neither public liability nor PI usually pays to put the roof itself right. If the leak stems from a design or specification error and the customer claims financial loss, PI may respond.
Your exposure is lower, but rarely zero. The supplier designs the frame and roof system, while your survey, measurements, base, site decisions and advice on approvals remain your responsibility. Make sure your policy’s description of your business matches what you actually do.
Apex arranges professional indemnity insurance for conservatory installers across the UK. Tell us about your work and we’ll find cover that fits. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start your PI proposal Call 0117 325 0027Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances. Cover is always subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms, and this page does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
