General liability insurance protects businesses against worksite bodily injury or property damage claims, but what about claims by property owners seeking purely economic damages for negligent design, construction or supervision?

As the lines between construction and design blur, more and more businesses in the building industry need errors and omissions professional liability insurance to protect against these types of claims. But based on misunderstandings about the scope of coverage afforded by commercial general liability policies, a surprising number of industry players either do not have E&O in the first place, or have an E&O approach that fails to provide sufficient protection when a negligence suit arrives.

Reprinted courtesy of Frank G. Murphy and Nicholas R. Maxwell, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.