ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and describes two different technological frames on construction insurance, labelled 'the protection frame' and 'the innovation frame', which govern construction practices. These two technological frames have separate sets of characteristics that make them distinctively different and point towards two quite different approaches to deal with inherent defects insurance (IDI) in construction. The chapter analyses how construction is governed by construction insurance and the implications for clients with regard to innovation and protection of long-term financial interests. It also analyses how clients are being shaped by insurance with regard to guarantee policies after handover of a built facility – known as inherent defects insurance. The chapter provides a brief overview of the typical approach to construction insurance across the 28 member states of the European Union. It analyses the Danish Building Defects Fund as an exemplar case of an alternative insurance scheme operating as a protective mechanism as well as a promoter of change in construction.
