Sustainable Land Development Today - October 2007 - (Page 21)

The site owner can also purchase environmental insurance coverage for added protection in the event the contractor’s CPL policy is exhausted. Owner’s Protective Environmental Insurance (OPEI) was developed to provide owners of construction projects an alternative to costly project contractor’s pollution liability policies. OPEI is a first party policy that extends coverage to the owner for damages the owner incurs from contractor’s pollution liability created by the project’s construction team. OPEI also offers “difference in coverage” above general contractor’s CPL insurance, a “sliding” self insured retention and defense costs to the owner for third-party claims and above the underlying contractor’s pollution liability policy, extending coverage to the owner in the event the underlying policy is deficient in coverage. OPEI costs 25 – 40 percent less than project contractor’s pollution liability policies. There are many advantages in having an owner controlled program, such as primary protection for the owner, consistency in coverage and reduced cost. In addition, the program is structured to ensure the general contractor’s CPL policy pays for covered claims in a timely fashion. Post Construction Okay, so the redevelopment project is completed and construction is finished; you conducted environmental due diligence pre-construction, purchased PLL and required your ground crew and subcontractors to evidence CPL coverage and now you think you are in the clear from environmental claims. Correct? Maybe not. As the owner of the property you may encounter pollution conditions three, four, or even five years after completion of the project. In addition to CPL and OPEI coverage, you also want to ensure that the contractor has completed operations coverage included within their CPL policy. Completed operations coverage will address third party claims for pollution conditions made after completion of the project. An example of this is the discovery of mold as a result of an improper installation of the roofing system by the roofing subcontractor or HVAC by the HVAC contractor. These claims can be significant and cause loss of income through relocation of tenants while the problems are corrected. Having the proper environmental insurance with adequate limits is essential during a redevelopment project. That’s because the lack of adequate environmental insurance coverage can pose disastrous results that include costly remediation and the loss of business income directly due to project delays. SLDT About the author: John Heft has 18 years of environmental underwriting experience providing environmental insurance and risk management solutions for a variety of industry sectors including chemical, petrochemical, energy, manufacturing, real estate, universities and healthcare. John is currently with New Day Underwriting Managers LLC of Bordentown, NJ and can be reached at 877-NDU-8008. Circle 112 • or www.SLDTonline.com/adinfo www.SLDTonline.com 21 http://www.fivestarstone.net http://www.fivestarstone.net http://www.SLDTonline.com/adinfo http://www.SLDTonline.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Land Development Today - October 2007

Sustainable Land Development Today - October 2007 Contents Our Voice Your Voice Editorial Board Mapping the Development Process Looking at a New Dimension The Environmental Liability Continuum GPS System Makes the Grade Regulations: Reactions Mixed Trends: Communications Easements Business Management: Recycling Sustainable Practices: LEED-ND Energy: Community Propane Systems Transportation: Mountain Solutions Recommended Reading Calendar Products/Services Showcase Classifieds Advertiser Index The Last Word

Sustainable Land Development Today - October 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.