Understanding Home Insurance for Anyone Building Their Own Home in Spain

Professional insurance requirements of the technical team

The architect, the technical architect, and the contractor each carry insurance that cover their technical responsibilities. They are required to do this by law. It is paid for by them out of the professional fees you pay and in the case of the contractor out of the costs you pay them. The contractor’s insurance covers theft of building materials, machinery and equipment, during the construction.

All risks developer insurance

This is optional but highly recommended. Your contractor and architect will be insured anyway so anything that might happen in the way of accidents on site will be covered by their policies. However, we recommend carrying all-risks developer insurance for peace of mind. If there is any claim, (perhaps some cracks appear in a neighbouring property or something), then if you, as the developer, are insured too, the insurance companies (or the judge if it ever gets that far) can decide amongst themselves who pays.

Decennial (10 Year) insurance for the structure

This is in addition to the 10 year guarantee you get under the building regulations (LOE: La Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación).

It requires an independent report from the OCT (Organismo de Control Técnico) who will monitor the erection of the foundations and the structure. When the works are completed this is then presented to an insurance company (along with the execution project and the geotechnical survey) who issue the policy.

Decennial insurance is compulsory for commercial developers (or anyone who wants to sell what they are building) and is optional if you are building your own home. However, we strongly recommend all our clients opt in because it’s expensive to get retrospectively and although you may not intend ever to sell when you build, life happens. You are creating a valuable asset and Decennial insurance adds value by re-assuring any potential buyer should you ever need to find one.

We would, of course, organise all of this for you.

Home Insurance

This would cover fire, theft and water damage and would be put in place when the construction is finished.

Personal Introduction to EFPG

If you are looking for someone to help you with your insurance questions we recommend EPFG If you would like a personal introduction, we find that always works in your favour, then contact John Wolfendale john@ecovidahomes.com and he will introduce you to Matt Davies.