Does my architect need to have insurance?

Does my architect need to have insurance?

Even for a small house extension or renovation, it’s hugely important that your architect (or other architectural designer) holds professional indemnity insurance. If anything goes wrong with your project as a result of their advice or work, it will be much more straightforward to claim back any financial loss you may incur as a result.

Featured image above by Alice, architect from Waltham Forest, London. Click here to see more and shortlist them for your home project.

What’s the difference between public liability and professional indemnity insurance?

Public liability insurance does not cover professional negligence of the architect or their staff. Instead it covers the liability of the architect/practice to third parties for injury or death or damage to a property.

Will an ‘unregistered’ architect have insurance cover?

There’s actually no such thing as an ‘unregistered architect’ in the UK. To call yourself an architect in the UK in the first place, you need to be registered with the ARB (Architect’s Registration Board – not RIBA as is sometimes assumed). So the title of ‘architect’ is protected and it’s a good idea to check whether your architect is listed on the ARB website.

However, there are other architectural design professionals, such as ‘architectural designers’, ‘architectural technicians’ and ‘architectural technologists’, who may well be very experienced and have the expertise to undertake your project. See our article here on the differences between these design professionals and what to look out for.

An architect, under the ARB’s code of conduct, is required to hold adequate professional indemnity insurance. Other architectural design professionals are not necessarily duty bound to have it. In all cases – architects or not – it’s worth checking to see what cover they have and for how much.