{"id":906029,"date":"2026-08-20T15:59:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T21:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=906029"},"modified":"2026-08-20T15:59:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T21:59:54","slug":"construction-disputes-duty-for-insurance-companies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-disputes-duty-for-insurance-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"The Duty for Insurance Companies to Defend Construction Disputes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Mason Rollins | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buildsmartbradley.com\/2026\/08\/the-duty-for-insurance-companies-to-defend-construction-disputes\/?utm_source=Bradley+Arant+Boult+Cummings+LLP+-+BuildSmart&amp;utm_campaign=c8f7f21dcb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_b504caf31b-c8f7f21dcb-78863422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">BuildSmart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"companies-in-the-construction-industry-face-the-ri\">Companies in the construction industry face the risk of disputes every day, and defending those disputes means incurring attorneys\u2019 fees. While companies sometimes pay those attorneys\u2019 fees out of pocket, they may be able to trigger insurance coverage \u2014 either their own policy or that of another party on the project \u2014 to fund their defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"an-insurer%e2%80%99s-duty-to-defend-is-broad-in-bp-air-co\">An insurer\u2019s duty to defend is broad. In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/new-york\/court-of-appeals\/2007\/2007-05581.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><em>BP Air Conditioning Corp. v. One Beacon Ins. Group<\/em><\/a>, the New York Court of Appeals addressed this issue. In 2000, Henegan Construction Company, Inc., the general contractor on a renovation project at the World Trade Center, subcontracted the HVAC work to BP Air Conditioning Corp., which in turn subcontracted the steam fitting work to Alfa Piping Corp. The purchase order between BP and Alfa contained an indemnification and hold-harmless clause and required Alfa to name BP as an additional insured on Alfa\u2019s commercial general liability policy. An employee of another BP subcontractor was allegedly injured after slipping on an oil slick from a pipe-cutting machine at the site. The employee sued Henegan, which brought a third-party action against BP and Alfa. BP sought a defense from Alfa\u2019s insurance carrier, One Beacon. When One Beacon declined to defend BP as an additional insured, BP sought a declaration of its rights that it was entitled to a defense under Alfa\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"the-court-explained-that-an-insurer%e2%80%99s-duty-to-defe\">The court explained that an insurer\u2019s duty to defend is \u201cexceedingly broad,\u201d triggered whenever the complaint\u2019s allegations suggest a reasonable possibility of coverage. The merits of the underlying claim are irrelevant, and an insured\u2019s right to a defense is a contractual right independent of any ultimate liability determination. One Beacon argued that BP\u2019s entitlement to a defense required a prior determination of Alfa\u2019s liability. The court rejected that argument, holding that additional insured coverage is not contingent on a liability finding and that an insurer\u2019s duty to defend an additional insured is coextensive with its duty to defend a named insured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"companies-in-the-construction-industry-should-revi\">Companies in the construction industry should review their insurance policies \u2014 and those of other project participants \u2014 to determine whether coverage can be triggered to fund their defense.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Republished with permission. The article, \u201cThe Duty for Insurance Companies to Defend Construction Disputes\u201d was originally published on BuildSmart by Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. Copyright 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mason Rollins | BuildSmart Companies in the construction industry face the risk of disputes every day, and defending those disputes means incurring attorneys\u2019 fees. While companies sometimes pay those attorneys\u2019 fees out of pocket, they may be able to trigger insurance coverage \u2014 either their own policy or that of another party on the project&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-disputes-duty-for-insurance-companies\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Duty for Insurance Companies to Defend Construction Disputes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12180,10721],"tags":[9895,12,204,22],"class_list":["post-906029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-disputes","category-insurance","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction","tag-construction-disputes","tag-insurance","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Duty for Insurance Companies to Defend Construction Disputes - Advise &amp; 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