Insurance brokerage
for all construction professionals
CEA is an insurance broker specialising in liability and construction insurance, advising and accompanying construction and real estate professionals from the assessement of their risks to handling claims.
CEA is an insurance broker specialising in liability and construction insurance, advising and accompanying construction and real estate professionals from the assessement of their risks to handling claims.
Trusted for its expertise and experience in this domain, we propose the most fitted and competitive insurance and warranty solutions.
Centre d'Etudes d'Assurances – CEA – was created in 1936, originally as an insurance law institute. CEA then expanded his activities to include brokerage and became a specialist in professional indemnity and construction insurance.
As a referenced actor of its domain at a national and European level, we are offering the following services:
- insurance brokerage : placement, risk management, claims management
- insurance consulting : benchmarking analisys, contract review
- auditing
- training
CEA accompanies construction and real estate professionals on an International level and is recognised as a Construction Insurance specialist throughout Europe.
Therefore, CEA, along with the CSTB, was appointed by the European Commission to study the building insurance systems of the 27 EU Member States as well as their impact on sustainable development.
The ELIOS (European Liability Insurance Organisation Schemes) project has demonstrated that there is very wide diversity of national regimes but common objectives and needs in terms of security and guarantees.
In order to analyse more in greater depth some of the recommendations of the Pilot Project Elios 1, the European Commission launched a second call for tender entitled: "Facilitating access to insurance by self-employed builders and small building firms so as to stimulate innovation and the promotion of eco-technologies in the European Union".
CEA was project manager of the consortium in charge of Elios 2, with the NHBC as an advisory.
You will find below an overview of liabilities and insurance' schemes in the construction sector upon French Law.
Any questions ?
Overview of liability and insurance' schemes in the construction sector under French Law
Principles of liability: two types of regime
1°) General civil liability includes both contractual and extra contractual liability. It's not specific to the construction sector. It aims to repair losses caused by fault, negligence or fail to perform a contract.
The contractual construction liability refers to disorders not covered by the decennial liability.
2°) Specific liability are:
- Warranty of perfected completion (garantie de parfait achèvement)
- Warranty of good running (garantie de bon fonctionnement)
- Decennial liability (responsabilité décennale)
Art. 1792 of the French civil code :
"Any builder of a work is liable as of right, towards the building owner or purchaser, for damages, even resulting from a defect of the ground, which imperil the strength of the building or which, affecting it in one of its constituent parts or one of its elements of equipment, render it unsuitable for its purposes.
Such liability does not take place where the builder proves that the damages were occasioned by an extraneous event".
Decennial liability of « constructors » is presumed and lasts for 10 years following acceptance with or without reserves. It concerns damages which:
- Compromise solidity of the structure;
- Affect solidity of inseparable elements of equipment i.e. elements incorporated into the structure in such way that removal, dismantle or replacement of these elements cannot be performed without deterioration or removal of material from the structure
- Affect constituent elements of the works or of its equipment causing the works unsuitable for its purposes;
Who is subject of this liability ? Constructor who has signed a construction contract with the principal / owner (maître d'ouvrage). The subcontractor is not subject to decennial liability under art 1792 C.C. But he may be held responsible of defects in his work.
Art. 1792-5 of the French civil code
"Any clause of a contract having the purpose, either of excluding or limiting the liability provided for in Articles 1792, 1792-1 and 1792-2, or of excluding the warranties provided for in Articles 1792-3 and 1792-6 or of limiting their extent, or setting aside or limiting the joint and several liability provided for in Article 1792-4, shall be deemed not written".
Insurance
1°) Mandatory insurance:
Art. 1792 of the French civil code :
"Any builder of a work is liable as of right, towards the building owner or purchaser, for damages, even resulting from a defect of the ground, which imperil the strength of the building or which, affecting it in one of its constituent parts or one of its elements of equipment, render it unsuitable for its purposes.
Such liability does not take place where the builder proves that the damages were occasioned by an extraneous event".
The French compulsory construction insurance system is designed to provide building owner with an effective protection against major damages.
N.B.: there is a difference between decennial liability and compulsory insurance. Some works are not subject to compulsory insurance (like maritime constructions, highway infrastructures, tunnel works, power plant) even if the constructor is subject to decennial liability.
The obligation of insurance applies:
- in terms of construction works (ouvrages soumis à l'obligation d'assurance), it applies to all new structures except those listed in the art. L243-1-1 of the insurance code (ouvrages non soumis à l'obligation d'assurance);
- in terms of persons, it applies to all constructors and sellers of constructed properties.
The decennial liability insurance (assurance décennale ou garantie décennale) covers property damages of certain gravity resulting from latent defects discovered up to 10 years from handover.
The insurer that covers the risk is identified by the date of commencement of the work (Date d'Ouverture de Chantier). So the builder must be able to issue a certificate of decennial liability insurance before the commencement of his work.
2°) Elective insurance:
Professional Indemnity insurance, public liability insurance are often taken by constructors, although they are not compulsory. It can covers damages excluded by decennial liability insurance, such as:
- guarantee of good running of divisible equipements;
- consequential losses (financial losses or bodily injury for example);
- third party damages.
Unlike the decennial liability insurance, these damages are usually covered by claims made policy: the insurance covers the claims arising during the policy period.
Our agencies
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The CEA has been a member of the Insurance Brokers Board since its inception. Jean ROUSSEL presides today the commission construction of PLANETE CSCA
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The CEA was the first insurance broker to become, in its capacity as insurance advisor, a member of CINOV, the engineering federation.
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As a representative of the CEA and PLANETE CSCA, Jean ROUSSEL is an administrator and member of the board of the OPQIBI, the engineering qualification body.
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ASCCO International, is a member and Insurance Council of the (UNTEC) National Union of Construction Economists.
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Quality is at the heart of our approach. The Centre d'Études d'Assurances has been ISO 9001 certified by the LRQA for more than 10 years.
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The Centre for Insurance Studies has been appointed by the European Commission.This commission has launched these two pilot projects on the subject of construction insurance.
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The CEA and AGEMI are the French representatives of the IHHWA, the international association of construction guarantors.