Carpentry & Millwork
Carpenter Insurance
For the trade where the thing you build is the thing that can fail.
Alberta-licensed brokerage · IBAA member · certificates issued the day they are asked for
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Carpentry insurance has to deal with a problem the other trades mostly avoid. The thing you build is the thing that can fail. An electrician’s fault damages the building around it, but a framer’s fault is the building. That makes the boundary between your own workmanship and the damage it causes the single most important line in a carpentry policy, and it is where claims are argued. Around all of that sit the everyday realities of the trade. You work inside houses people live in, you carry the largest tool kit on the site, and finished millwork can be ruined between the shop and the wall it was built for.
The Exposure
Risks you face.
Most carpentry claims are not dramatic failures. They are the ordinary damage of working inside a finished building with sharp tools and heavy material.
Damage to the house you are working inside
Renovation and finish work happens in a home someone is still living in. A dropped sheet through the drywall, a scratched hardwood floor, a nail into a line behind a wall, dust through a furnace return. None of it is dramatic, all of it is chargeable to you, and it is the most common claim on residential carpentry work.
The line between your work and the damage it causes
A liability policy is not a warranty on workmanship, so it generally will not pay to rebuild the wall you built out of square. What it can pay for is what that wall damaged. In a trade where the deliverable is the structure itself, that boundary decides most claims, so it is worth understanding before you need it.
Falls and material coming off an open frame
Framing puts people and material at height on a structure that is not finished yet. A sheet of plywood off a second storey, an unguarded opening, a temporary stair, and the injury claim is not limited to your own crew.
Custom millwork ruined before it is installed
A built-in cabinet run or a stair package is weeks of shop time, and it is at its most vulnerable in the trailer and on the site before it is fastened down. A standard property policy usually covers what is in your shop, not what is in transit to a job.
Tools: the biggest kit on the site
Table saws, mitre stations, compressors, generators, laser levels and a full cordless platform. Carpenters routinely carry more replaceable value than any other trade on a residential job, and it lives in a trailer overnight.
A structure that comes back years later
A deck ledger, a stair stringer, a beam that deflects, a leak at a detail you framed. Structural work is inspected by time. Coverage for claims that surface after the job is done is what picks it up when that day comes.
The Protection
Coverages we recommend.
Commercial General Liability
Injury and property damage your work causes a third party, and the defence costs attached to it, with cover that keeps responding to claims appearing after the job is finished. It is also the coverage a general contractor or a homeowner’s contract will ask you to prove.
Contractors Equipment
Theft, damage and loss cover for saws, compressors, generators, levels and cordless kits, on the job site, in transit and in overnight storage. It is also the coverage that can be extended to finished millwork moving to a site.
Commercial Auto
The truck and the trailer, covered for both liability and damage to the vehicle. Add the tools and material inside so one accident does not take the truck, the trailer and the kit at once.
Commercial Property
Your shop, fixed machinery, lumber and sheet stock and leasehold improvements, protected against fire, theft and water damage, whether you own the space or lease it.
Business Interruption
If a covered loss to your shop or machinery stops you taking on work, this replaces the income and covers the fixed costs.
Coverages shown are general examples, not a description of any specific policy. Policy coverages widely vary and should be confirmed with your broker.
The workmanship boundary, in plain terms
This is the line that decides most carpentry claims, so it is worth stating plainly. A liability policy is not a warranty on your work. If a wall you framed is out of square, the cost of tearing it out and rebuilding it is generally yours. If that wall caused damage to something else, the floor below it, the cabinetry fastened to it, the finishes around it, that resulting damage is what the policy is built to pay for, and completed-operations coverage keeps working after you have left the site. Every trade lives with this rule, but carpentry feels it hardest, because in carpentry the deliverable and the structure are the same object.
Why carpenters choose Velocity
We size the equipment side to what a carpenter really carries, which is usually more than the policy says. Saws, stations, compressors, generators, levels, and a full cordless platform add up over a few good years without anyone recalculating, and the limit written when the business was one truck is rarely the limit you would need to replace a stolen trailer. We also ask where your finished millwork sits between the shop and the wall, because that is the gap most programs leave open.
How Pricing Works
What drives your premium
- Framing versus finish workStructural framing carries height and load-bearing consequences that trim and cabinetry do not, so where you sit on that range is the biggest single driver of your price.
- Occupied homes versus new constructionWorking inside a house people live in puts finished surfaces, contents and the family themselves within reach of the work, and it is rated differently from an empty new build.
- Height and multi-storey workSecond-storey framing, roof structure and scaffolded work raise both the injury exposure and the risk of material falling onto people and property below.
- Shop work and custom millworkA shop adds fixed machinery, lumber stock, and dust and finishing exposures on the property side, and finished goods in transit on the equipment side.
- Revenue, crew, and subcontractorsMore revenue and more hands mean more jobs a year, and passing work to subs adds their mistakes to your policy unless you collect proof of their own insurance first.
- Tool, trailer, and machinery valuesCarpentry kits are large. The replacement cost of your saws, stations, compressors and the trailer they travel in sets the equipment side of your premium.
- Claims history and coverage limitsA clean record lowers your price and past damage or theft claims raise it. A bigger limit costs more up front. A bigger deductible costs less up front and more at the moment of a claim.
Common Questions
Questions ownersreally ask.
Will my policy pay to redo work of mine that turned out wrong?
Generally no, and this is the question that matters most in carpentry. A liability policy is not a warranty on your workmanship, so the cost of tearing out and rebuilding your own defective work usually sits with you. What the policy can respond to is the damage that faulty work caused to other property, and completed-operations coverage keeps that protection in place after you have left. Because the wording varies, it is worth walking through against the kind of work you take on.
I renovate occupied homes. What is my real exposure?
The building and everything in it. Most residential carpentry claims are not structural failures. They are the ordinary damage of working around finished surfaces and someone’s belongings, meaning floors, cabinetry, drywall, a line behind a wall, or dust pushed through the heating system. General liability is what covers that damage and the argument that follows it.
Is my custom millwork covered while it is in the trailer on the way to a job?
Not automatically. A standard property policy is generally concerned with what is at your shop, not with finished goods in transit or sitting on a site before installation. That is a coverage question worth raising specifically, because a cabinet run represents weeks of work and is at its most exposed exactly when it is least protected.
I only sub for general contractors. Doesn’t their policy cover me?
No. The general contractor’s policy protects the general contractor. Your subcontract will normally require you to carry your own commercial general liability at a stated limit, to add the general contractor as an additional insured, and to produce a certificate proving it before you are allowed to start.
Are my saws, stations, and cordless tools covered if the trailer is stolen?
Contractors equipment coverage exists for exactly this. It follows your tools and portable equipment on the job site, in transit and in overnight storage, where a standard business property policy usually stops at your shop door. Carpenters tend to be underinsured here simply because the kit grew faster than the policy did, so the limit is worth checking against what you would have to replace.
How much does carpenter insurance cost in Alberta, and how fast can I get covered?
There is no flat rate. Price follows the mix of framing and finish work, whether you work in occupied homes, your revenue and crew, your tool and shop values, and the limits your contracts require. We build the program around how you operate, and most carpenters go from first conversation to bound coverage within a few business days, with certificates issued as soon as they are asked for.
Built for the structure,and the kit that builds it.
Tell us your mix of framing, finish, and shop work, whether you work in occupied homes, and what your kit is worth, and we will build the coverage to match.
Not ready to switch? Book a 15-minute coverage review instead
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