A bracket that fails is one risk. A cord without a safety device is a much bigger one.
Installing blinds and curtains looks like light, low-risk work, but every bracket, track, and mechanism is fixed to a wall or ceiling that has to hold it for years. When a fixing fails or a corded product doesn't meet child-safety requirements, the claim isn't about the job being small, it's about what the failure caused.
Where a blind or curtain installer actually gets exposed
The risk is smaller in scale than a structural trade, but it's real: fixings that fail, and products that don't meet the safety standards that apply specifically to window furnishings.
The bracket that came away from the wall
A curtain track or roller blind bracket you installed comes away from the wall or ceiling under normal use, damaging what's below it or narrowly missing whoever's in the room.
The corded blind that didn't meet child-safety compliance
A corded blind is installed without the safety devices required under child-safety regulations. A young child gets tangled in the cord, and the installation itself is questioned.
Damage during measuring and installation
Fitting blinds or curtains in an occupied home, a drill or tool damages a wall finish, or a heavy curtain rod is dropped onto a client's furniture during installation.
Who's going to ask you for it
Commercial fit-outs and franchise operators check
Residential jobs rarely come with a formal requirement, but larger and commercial work usually does:
- Commercial office and retail fit-out clients typically want $10M public liability before window furnishing installation.
- Franchise and network installers in this space often set their own minimum cover standards.
- Body corporates may want proof of cover for common-area window furnishing work.
The exclusion installers assume is covered
A fixing that fails, or a corded product that doesn't meet child-safety requirements, is a defect in completed work, not an on-site accident. Given the child-safety angle specifically, it's worth confirming product liability is genuinely part of your cover rather than assuming a basic public liability policy stretches to it.
Common questions
A bracket I installed failed months later. Is that covered?
Only if product liability is included, not just public liability. A fixing failure discovered after the job is a completed-operations claim.
Do I need to specifically address child-safety compliance in my cover?
It's worth confirming, given how directly this ties to a genuine safety risk. Tell us if corded blinds are a regular part of your installation work.
What if the client asks me to install a product that doesn't meet current safety standards?
It's best to flag the compliance issue to the client directly rather than proceeding, since installing known non-compliant products is unlikely to be covered.
Do I need higher cover for commercial or office fit-out work?
Often, yes. Larger commercial jobs and franchise or network arrangements sometimes set their own minimum requirements above standard residential levels.
I mostly do small residential jobs. Do I still need product liability?
Yes. Even a small residential installation carries the same fixing-failure and compliance risks, just at a smaller scale.