Category: Sector × city · Reviewed by Simon Temme, Account Executive · Last reviewed May 2026
Apex Insurance Brokers is a Bristol-headquartered, UK-wide Professional Indemnity (PI) broker that acts for consulting engineering practices across London — structural and civil consultancies working on commercial, residential and infrastructure schemes; MEP and building services engineers across the office and residential sectors; geotechnical and basement specialists in K&C, Camden and Westminster; and specialist consultancies on rail, transport and water infrastructure. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (firm reference 724952).
We do not maintain a walk-in office in London. The engineering consultancies we act for in London are generally content to be served remotely, by video call, telephone and secure document exchange. The substance of the broking conversation — limits, wording, project-specific cover, net-contribution clauses, post-Building Safety Act underwriting — does not depend on the broker being physically in London.
Engineering is unusual among professional services in that there is no statutory regulator-set PI floor. The Engineering Council and the institutions — ICE, IStructE, CIBSE, IMechE, IET — require members in practice to hold appropriate cover, but they do not prescribe a fixed monetary minimum. The driving force on PI limits for London engineers is contractual: NEC and JCT appointments, framework agreements with public-sector clients, and the specific demands of infrastructure principals.
London concentrates the United Kingdom’s largest population of consulting engineers and is a global centre for infrastructure design. The named global engineering consultancies — Arup, Mott MacDonald, Atkins (now AtkinsRéalis), WSP, Aecom, Buro Happold and others — maintain large London offices and operate layered PI programmes placed by specialist brokers; they are not Apex’s natural client.
The firms Apex more usually acts for, in London, sit a tier or two below that. Mid-sized structural and civil consultancies of fifteen to a hundred and fifty people working on commercial fit-out, high-rise residential, mixed-use schemes and the institutional estate. MEP and building services consultancies covering office refurbishment and new-build across the City and Canary Wharf. Specialist basement and geotechnical practices working on the volume of below-ground work in K&C, Camden and Westminster. Smaller specialist consultancies on rail and transport infrastructure, including supply-chain engineers feeding into Crossrail / Elizabeth line legacy projects, the HS2 Euston works, Thames Tideway, and the rolling rail station and signalling programmes. Fire engineering specialists, an area transformed by the Building Safety Act 2022 and the FRAEW/PAS 9980 framework.
The distinction between consulting engineering and design engineering — engineers retained on a stand-alone advisory basis versus engineers embedded as part of a contractor’s design team — affects how the PI policy responds, particularly under novation arrangements. Engineers working on design-and-build packages need the wording to handle the novated position properly.
Three London-specific factors recur. First, infrastructure exposure: the volume of rail, transport and water-engineering work in and around London is unmatched in the United Kingdom, and the contractual frameworks (NEC ECC, NR0006, TfL forms) impose specific PI requirements. Second, high-rise residential exposure post-Building Safety Act, including the Gateway 2 regime and the dutyholder framework — any engineer with residential work over 18 metres or seven storeys is now operating in a different regulatory environment. Third, basement and below-ground work in prime central London, where the consequences of movement, dewatering or excavation error fall on adjoining properties of substantial value.
There is no statutory regulator-set PI floor for consulting engineers. The Engineering Council and the chartered institutions require appropriate cover; the practical limit is driven by appointments.
Typical London engineering practice profiles:
NEC and JCT appointments typically specify required PI levels; framework agreements with TfL, Network Rail, the Department for Transport, the GLA and the boroughs specify their own. Collateral warranties to funders, purchasers and tenants are routine and impose obligations that interact with the PI policy. Net-contribution clauses are routinely sought in negotiation and have a material effect on the firm’s exposure to joint and several liability for losses caused in part by other consultants.
The Building Safety Act 2022 has reshaped the PI conversation for residential high-rise work. The Gateway 2 regime under the Building Safety Regulator, the dutyholder framework, and the prospective extension of limitation under the Defective Premises Act to 15 years (with 30 years retrospective) all affect underwriting. Insurers have tightened terms on residential high-rise work, and some wordings carry specific exclusions or sub-limits.
More on the line generally is on our engineers sector page and our overview of professional indemnity insurance.
Cladding, external wall system and fire-safety claims on residential high-rise work remain the defining theme. Engineers who designed, specified or signed off on cladding systems, fire-stopping, compartmentation, or external wall build-ups on residential blocks over 11 metres carry exposure that the Building Safety Act has crystallised. Pre-claim circumstance notifications on this category continue to be made several years after completion.
Structural movement and design failure claims arise across the residential and commercial sectors. Movement on adjoining basements in K&C and Camden — typically party-wall-adjacent claims — produces both quantum and reputational issues for the consultancy involved. High-rise vibration, deflection and serviceability claims feature on tall buildings.
Geotechnical and below-ground claims sit at the upper end of the loss range when basement excavation, dewatering, or piling causes damage to adjoining property. London’s geology — London Clay and the Thames terrace gravels — is well understood, but mistakes happen and the values at stake are substantial.
Infrastructure claims on rail, transport and water schemes are typically resolved through the contractual framework before they reach a PI insurer, but where they do escalate, the joint-and-several position with other consultants and contractors is the key dimension.
MEP and services-engineering claims — failed plant specification, cooling-load errors, drainage failures — feature steadily across the commercial portfolio.
Apex is independent and not tied to a single insurer or panel. For each London engineering consultancy we approach the relevant section of the construction professional indemnity market — Lloyd’s syndicates via wholesale routes, specialist managing general agents writing engineers PI, and the company-market insurers active in the sector. We bring back terms with a written commentary, including specific attention to fire-safety wording, net-contribution endorsements, and the treatment of collateral warranties.
You deal with a named broker. Video calls handle renewal reviews and mid-term queries. Telephone access is direct on 0117 325 0027. Secure document exchange handles proposals, schedules and policy documents.
Claims advocacy is central. Engineering claims often involve multiple consultants, sub-consultants and contractors, and the firm’s position needs to be properly represented through the claim’s life cycle. We help draft circumstance notifications, work with insurers and panel solicitors, and stay involved as the matter progresses.
More on how we work with London-based firms generally is on our London page.
No. Apex is headquartered in Bristol and serves London engineering consultancies remotely, by video meeting, telephone and secure document exchange.
There is no statutory regulator-set floor. The chartered institutions require appropriate cover; the practical limit is driven by contractual requirements. Small structural practices commonly carry £1m–£2m; mid-sized practices £5m–£10m; firms on large infrastructure or framework appointments £10m–£25m, sometimes with project-specific PI on top.
Yes. Where a single appointment requires limits or wording beyond the annual policy, project-specific PI placed alongside the annual cover is a common approach for large London projects.
The Act introduced the Gateway 2 regime, the dutyholder framework, and extended limitation under the Defective Premises Act. Insurer underwriting on residential high-rise work has tightened, and some wordings carry specific cladding-related exclusions or sub-limits. We review these on every renewal for firms with residential high-rise exposure.
Net-contribution clauses limit the engineer’s liability to a fair share of the loss where multiple parties contributed to the same loss, instead of full joint-and-several liability. They are routinely sought in negotiation. The PI policy responds to whatever liability the firm has under its appointment; a successful net-contribution clause materially reduces that liability, but it must be agreed before the project — not after a claim.
Collateral warranties are routine on London projects and impose obligations on the engineer beyond the head appointment. We discuss the warranty terms in PI broking, including the position on assignment, third-party rights and step-in.
Yes. Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference 724952.
If you run a consulting engineering practice in London and would like to discuss Professional Indemnity cover — whether reviewing existing cover, approaching renewal, responding to an NEC or framework appointment requirement, dealing with a Building Safety Act-related enquiry, or notifying a circumstance — please get in touch.
Telephone: 0117 325 0027 Email: info@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk
About Apex Insurance Brokers — Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA firm reference 724952. Registered in England and Wales, Companies House 07014570. Last reviewed: May 2026.
Apex Insurance Brokers serves UK professional services firms and commercial businesses. Call 0117 325 0027, email hello@apexinsurancebrokers.co.uk, or request a quotation.
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