Public liability is the cover no tradie should be on site without — it pays when your work injures someone or damages their property. Here are the limits builders and councils actually require, what it covers (and the big things it does not), and how products liability fits in.
The limits — $5M, $10M, $20M
Insurers offer $5M, $10M and $20M. The minimum is not set by law — it is set by the builder, council or principal you work for:
- Small domestic work direct for homeowners: $5M–$10M (and $10M is increasingly the default).
- A subbie on a builder, council or commercial site: $10M minimum, often $20M where specified.
Rule of thumb: a micro tradie on small resi sits at $5M–$10M; anyone on builder, council or commercial sites needs $10M, and $20M where the contract says so. Many sites will not let you on without $10M+.
What it covers
- Third-party bodily injury — a member of the public or another worker injured by your work.
- Third-party property damage — drilling a client's water pipe, dropping materials on a car.
- Legal defence costs.
Plus extensions: products liability (below), and vicarious liability for your employees and some subbies acting for you.
What it does NOT cover (the surprises)
- Your own employees' injuries — that is workers' comp.
- Your own tools, plant and property — separate cover.
- Professional advice or design errors — professional indemnity.
- Your vehicle on public roads — motor insurance.
- Fixing your own faulty work — PL pays for the resultant damage (the flooded house), not for re-doing the faulty plumbing.
- Gradual pollution and asbestos are usually excluded or strictly limited.
(The full picture is in What Your Insurance Doesn't Cover.)
Products liability — usually bundled
Products liability covers injury or damage caused by something you supplied or installed after it has left your control — a fitting that later leaks and floods the house. For tradies it is almost always written with PL as a single "Public & Products Liability" policy with one shared limit. When a principal asks for "$20M public liability", the certificate they want shows "Public & Products Liability" at that limit.
Premiums
Premiums depend heavily on your trade, turnover, state and limit, so treat any figure as indicative and get a broker quote. As a rough order of magnitude, many small low-to-moderate-risk tradies sit around $400–$1,500 a year for $5M–$10M; height work, roofing and demolition run much higher. Do not pick the cheapest blind — match the limit to what your sites require, and check the exclusions.
Common mistakes
- Carrying $5M when your sites require $10M+.
- Assuming PL fixes your own defective work — it does not.
- Not declaring higher-risk work (height, demolition) to the broker.
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