Half your jobs happen inside a shop that's still open, customers and all.
Shop fitting is unusual among the trades because the site is often still live: customers walking past, staff working around your tools, a business that can't afford to close for the fit-out. That changes the risk profile from a typical residential job to something closer to working in a public space every day. Cover built for that difference.
Where a shop fitter actually gets exposed
The defining risk in shop fitting is that the site often isn't empty. Customers, staff, and deliveries keep moving through or around a space that's simultaneously a live business and a construction site.
The customer injured mid-fit-out
Fitting out a section of a retail store that's remained open during the works, a customer walks into an unmarked barrier or trips on materials staged in the aisle.
The fit-out that disrupted trading
Noise, dust, or a temporary closure caused by the fit-out work affects the retailer's ability to trade normally, and they claim for lost income during the disruption.
Fixtures or joinery that fail after handover
Shelving, counters, or fittings installed as part of the fit-out fail once the store is fully operational and under normal daily use, damaging stock or injuring a staff member.
Who's going to ask you for it
Landlords and managing agents gate access to the site
Because fit-out work usually happens inside someone else's leased premises, the landlord or managing agent controls access:
- Shopping centre landlords and managing agents routinely require $10M-$20M public liability before granting site access for a fit-out.
- Head contractors on larger commercial fit-outs may set their own minimum on top of the landlord's requirement.
- Retail clients may have their own contractor induction and insurance requirements before work starts.
The exclusion shop fitters assume is covered
Because the site is often live, the exposure to customers and staff, not just your own workers, is higher than most residential trade work. It's easy to assume standard public liability automatically scales to this, when landlords and managing agents often expect specific, higher limits and evidence of site-specific risk management before they'll even let you start.
Common questions
Do I need higher cover just because it's a shopping centre job?
Usually, yes. Shopping centre landlords typically set higher minimums than a standalone shopfront would require, given the volume of foot traffic around the work.
What if the retailer says the fit-out disrupted their trading and lost them money?
This depends on your specific contract terms and cover. It's worth discussing this exposure directly with us given how often fit-outs happen around live trading.
A shelf or fixture I installed failed after the store opened. Is that covered?
If product liability is included, yes. A defect in the finished fit-out discovered after handover is a completed-operations claim.
Does the landlord's own insurance cover me while I'm on site?
No, a landlord's building insurance doesn't cover your work or your liability. You need your own current public liability cover to be granted site access in the first place.
I mostly do small standalone shopfronts, not shopping centres. Do I need the same cover?
The exposure is generally lower at that scale, though the core risks are similar. Tell us the type of retail environments you mostly work in so the cover matches.