Your name's on the framing long after you've moved to the next job.
Most carpentry work is sub-contracted onto someone else's site, under someone else's head contract. That doesn't mean the liability is someone else's problem. If your work causes an injury or turns out wrong once the walls are closed up, the claim still has your name on it. Cover built for the trade, not a generic small-business policy.
Where a carpenter actually gets exposed
The risk splits into two kinds of claim. One happens while you're on site: falling materials, a stack of timber that topples, a visitor tripping over your gear. The other shows up long after you've finished, when the work itself turns out to be the problem.
Falling materials on a live site
You're framing a first floor. A length of timber comes loose from a stack and falls, injuring a plumber working below on the same site. The site isn't yours, but the injury happened because of your work.
The frame that wasn't square
Months after handover, the builder notices doors and windows aren't sitting right. An engineer traces it back to framing that was out of spec. The builder wants the cost of the rework, and the flow-on trades that now have to be redone.
Damage to a client's existing property
You're doing a renovation carpentry job inside an occupied home. A tool slips and puts a gash through the client's kitchen benchtop, unrelated to the actual carpentry work.
Who's going to ask you for it
Head contractors set the bar, not you
Almost every carpentry job now starts with proof of cover before you're allowed to price it, let alone start:
- Head contractors and builders commonly require $10M-$20M public liability before a subcontract is signed.
- Insurers on the head contractor's own policy often require every subcontractor to hold their own current cover, not rely on the builder's.
- Councils and certifiers may ask for evidence of cover on larger or structural jobs.
The exclusion carpenters assume is covered
Public liability answers claims about injury or damage while you're on site. It generally does not answer a claim that your finished work was defective, which is exactly the framing-that-wasn't-square scenario above. That's a product liability exposure, and it's the one most carpenters haven't checked they actually have.
Common questions
I mostly subcontract to one builder. Can't I just rely on their policy?
Not safely. A head contractor's policy usually doesn't extend to cover your specific work, and most contracts require you to hold your own current public liability regardless.
Does this cover a framing mistake found after the job's finished?
Only if product liability is included alongside public liability. A defect found after handover is a completed-operations claim, and bare public liability often won't respond to it.
What limit should I actually carry?
Check the subcontract agreement. Most builders now specify $10M as a minimum, with $20M becoming common on bigger jobs. Match your cover to what's actually being asked for.
I do a mix of framing and finish carpentry. Does that matter?
It can affect the risk profile. Finish carpentry (joinery, fit-outs) tends to carry more of a workmanship-defect exposure, while framing carries more structural and site-injury risk. Tell us what mix of work you do.
Do I need cover if I only do small residential jobs?
Yes. A single fall or a single structural defect can cost far more than the job was worth. Size of job doesn't limit the size of a claim.