Sawdust and finishing chemicals are a serious fire risk, on site and at your workshop.
Cabinet making sits between two worlds: a workshop full of wood dust, adhesives, and lacquers with a genuinely high fire load, and client sites where the finished joinery gets installed and judged for years afterward. Cover that answers for both.
Where a cabinet maker actually gets exposed
The workshop side of the business carries a fire risk most trades don't have to think about. The installation side carries the same completed-operations risk as any joinery or carpentry work once cabinetry is fitted and the job's been paid for.
Joinery that comes away from the wall
Custom cabinetry you installed in a kitchen comes loose from the wall months later, damaging the benchtop and appliances below it, and narrowly missing whoever was standing there.
Damage during delivery and installation
Delivering and fitting a custom cabinetry piece into an occupied home, it's knocked against a doorway and damages the client's existing flooring or wall finish.
A workshop fire that spreads
Finishing chemicals or accumulated wood dust in your workshop ignite, and the fire spreads to a neighbouring tenancy in a shared industrial building.
Who's going to ask you for it
Builders and shop-fit clients expect it before installation
Cabinet making sits inside larger jobs run by other people, which sets the requirement before you're on site:
- Builders and renovators typically want $10M public liability before engaging a cabinet maker for a kitchen or built-in job.
- Commercial shop-fit clients may set higher limits for larger joinery contracts.
- Landlords of shared workshop or industrial space often require evidence of cover as a condition of the lease.
The exclusion cabinet makers assume is covered
Cabinetry that comes loose or fails after installation is a defect in the finished work, not an accident that happened on site. That's a product liability claim. It's also worth knowing that professional indemnity isn't usually needed for this trade unless design or specification advice, rather than just building and installing, is part of what you offer.
Separately, if your workshop cuts manufactured board or stone-look benchtop material, check whether your policy carries conditions around silica dust and extraction. Some policies apply specific exclusions here, and it's a live compliance issue worth confirming with your broker rather than assuming standard cover extends to it.
Common questions
Do I need cover for my workshop as well as installation sites?
Yes, they're different exposures. Your workshop carries a fire and property risk of its own, separate from the public liability exposure at client installation sites.
A cabinet I installed came loose months later. Is that covered?
Only if product liability is included, not just public liability. A defect discovered after handover is a completed-operations claim.
Do I need professional indemnity as a cabinet maker?
Usually not, unless you're also providing design or specification advice beyond building to a client's brief. Tell us if design work is part of your service.
What if I damage a client's existing kitchen during installation?
That's a standard public liability claim, damage to third-party property caused during your work, separate from any defect in the cabinetry itself.
I work from a shared workshop space with other tradespeople. Does that matter?
It can. Check whether the lease or shared arrangement requires you to hold your own cover, and tell us about the setup so we can confirm your policy responds correctly if a fire or damage event affects shared premises.
Does my cover address silica dust from cutting manufactured board or benchtop material?
Not automatically. Some policies carry specific exclusions or conditions around silica dust and extraction, so it's worth confirming directly if your workshop regularly cuts these materials.