We are acting as our own general contractors as well. What we did is purchase a homeowners policy. This covers us for the structure and liability. It was a lot cheaper than getting a builders risk policy with liability.

you need to talk to your agent about the coverage that you need and then read the policy that your are purchasing to make sure that it covers everything. Most regular homeowner's policies would not give you adequate coverage during construction.

"Either the builder or the homeowner needs to have a Builder's Risk Insurance policy in place. This policy covers the dwelling while under construction and the building materials, while on site or installed in the home, for theft. A standard homeowner's policy would exclude the theft of these materials. For example, if the owners have kitchen cabinets in the garage of the house waiting to be installed and over night they're stolen, the builder's risk will provide coverage for these, a homeowner's policy would not. Make sure this coverage is in force in the builder's name or owner's name prior to building."

Unless you are in the home building business, and planning to sell the home you are currently building, do not waste your money on a General Liability Policy. You can't sue yourself. If you have a homeowners policy on the home you are living in now (while this one is being constructed), most carriers will extend premises liability to the property under construction. This will cover slip-and-falls of the trespassers who hurt themselves on your property. If you do not have a homeowners policy, or your carrier balks, ask your agent about an O.C.P. It is MUCH cheaper.

You must, must, must secure certificates of insurance from ALL of your subcontractors which evidences General Liability (including completed operations) and workers compensation. Work comp is the most important. Certificates are issued by their insurance agents free of charge. Make sure they submit these prior to showing up to the job site.

Hope this helps

Please note OCP is a liability insurance and does not cover theft or loss.

Your home owner's insurance will not cover this as well.

As posted above you must have all those Certificates of insurance and workers comp certificates as well. If you don't have them and a workers gets hurt your insurance company will throw you to the wolves.

I worked for a company where one of my main jobs was just making sure all the certificates were up to date at all times. They had missed one COI before I was hired and it cost them millions!

This is all interesting and helpful. So what would be the insurance I would get to cover vandalism or theft?

Read you builder's risk policy--it should cover vandalism (depending upon what is vandalized) and theft.

Builders risk will cover theft and vandalism as stated above. Zurich Insurance Co. does writes these cheaply- roughly .20/$100 ($375 min premium). Most agents have access to them.

My original post just addressed the liability issues as the OP inquired about, not the physical damage issues