Installation Floater
An installation floater is a form of inland marine insurance that covers building materials, fixtures, and equipment while they are being transported, stored temporarily, or installed at a job site.
Definition
An installation floater is an inland marine insurance coverage form designed to protect materials, equipment, and components intended for installation into a structure or project. Coverage generally applies from the time the property leaves the supplier or warehouse through transportation, temporary storage, and the installation phase until the items become a permanent part of the completed project.
The coverage is commonly used by contractors, subcontractors, and installation professionals who assume financial responsibility for materials before those materials are permanently incorporated into a building or project. Installation floater coverage addresses the exposure that exists between shipment and final installation completion.
Structural Components
Installation floater coverage typically includes several structural elements that define the property covered and the circumstances under which coverage applies.
- Covered property: Materials, fixtures, equipment, or supplies intended for installation into a structure or project.
- Transit coverage: Protection while property is transported from suppliers or warehouses to the job site.
- Temporary storage coverage: Coverage for materials stored at staging locations, warehouses, or temporary job site storage areas.
- Installation phase coverage: Protection while materials are being installed but before they become a permanent part of the project.
- Project location designation: The specific job site or locations where coverage applies.
Parameters & Conditions
The applicability of an installation floater depends on the nature of the project and the contractor’s responsibility for materials during the installation process.
- Coverage typically applies only to materials intended for installation into a specific project.
- The insured party must have a financial interest in the materials being installed.
- Coverage generally terminates once the materials become permanently installed or accepted as part of the completed structure.
- Policies may specify maximum values per project, location, or shipment.
- The policy period may correspond to the expected duration of the installation project.
Topic Relationships
Exceptions, Limitations & Boundaries
Installation floater coverage applies specifically to property awaiting installation or actively being installed and does not replace broader forms of property or liability insurance.
- Coverage generally ends once materials become a permanent part of the completed structure.
- Damage to completed work may instead fall under other forms of property or construction-related coverage.
- Installation floater policies typically do not cover liability claims arising from bodily injury or property damage to third parties.
- Coverage scope may exclude losses arising from defective workmanship or design.