Engineer Needing PI for Design Liability
Civil, structural, geotech — design errors that surface 5+ years later need run-off you can rely on.
Engineering PI is high-stakes because design defects can manifest years after the work is done (settlement, structural failure, geotechnical surprises). Retroactive date and run-off cover are decisive. Specialist Sub-clauses around design-and-build, BIM, peer-review, and EngineeringNZ membership scope are wording-level differences.
Cover types most relevant
- Professional indemnity
Professional indemnity covers your civil liability for claims arising from professional services. Every NZ retail PI wording is claims-made — the retroactive date and run-off availability decide whether old work is covered when you change insurers or close the business.
Watch out for
- D&B: Design-and-build engagements blur the PI/PL boundary — wording should explicitly include design risk if you take it.
- latent defect: NZ Building Act 10-year statutory limitation means structural claims can come 8-9 years later. Run-off cover is essential at practice closure.
Related topics
This scenario is built from FCIB-panel wordings (NZI · QBE · AIG · Zurich · Delta · Dual) plus Vero as an off-panel market comparator. Clause-level cover matches require the wording corpus to be populated for each product — where it isn't yet, the page shows "Not on file — request latest wording from insurer via FCIB" rather than fabricating an answer.
For a tailored quote on the cover types listed above, contact First Commercial Insurance Brokers Ltd (FSP748591): 0800 437 699 · stewart@fcib.co.nz