Covers the liability and legal-defence costs where an architect, architectural firm, structural engineer or interior designer negligently causes loss to the owner or a third party during design, supervision or advisory work. Mandatory or recommended under Article 20-2 of the Certified Architects Act.
N2N Insurance Brokerage does not represent any single insurer — it independently represents the client as an FSS-registered broker (Reg. No. 2026-012201). We compare the wordings, rates and service of AIG · Chubb · DB · Hyundai · KB · Meritz to propose the cover and price best suited to your risk. Each insurer's full wording is provided at application and binding.
Article 20-2 of the Certified Architects Act and its Enforcement Decree make professional liability insurance mandatory or recommended for architectural firms performing design, supervision and similar work above a certain scale. This cover responds to loss to owners and third parties from design-document errors, inadequate structural review or deficient supervision.
General and specialist architects.
Structural review.
Interior-construction businesses.
Urban planning.
| BIM / digital design | BIM design errors |
|---|---|
| Overseas projects | Overseas design and supervision |
| Joint ventures | Apportionment among joint-contract members |
| Policy period | 1 year (Claims-Made) |
|---|---|
| Insurers | Chubb · Hyundai |
| Limits | Per claim KRW 0.5–5bn / aggregate KRW 1–20bn |
| Turnaround | 2–4 weeks |
| Statutory basis | Article 20-2 of the Certified Architects Act |
The contract is void if the insured event has already occurred at conclusion. A handwritten signature is required. A commercial insurance contract concluded by a professional financial consumer cannot be withdrawn.
N2N Insurance Brokerage is a registered insurance broker under Article 89 of the Insurance Business Act (Reg. No. 2026-012201 · Business Reg. No. 611-23-02374).
Common risk patterns in design and supervision work — a five-scenario self-check
Errors in design documents or inadequate structural review can lead to building defects and create liability to owners and third parties.
If deficient supervision fails to detect a construction defect, the architect's professional liability may be established.
The Certified Architects Act and its Enforcement Decree make professional liability insurance mandatory or recommended for firms performing work above a certain scale.
Structural review and technical-service work bears directly on building safety, so negligence can cause large losses.
The broader the scope of design work, the greater the claims exposure, so cover must be designed to the work performed.
Architects' professional liability insurance covers loss caused to owners and third parties by negligence in the architect's “professional work” — design-document errors, inadequate structural review, deficient supervision. Two things are often misunderstood here. First, this cover is generally written on a claims-made basis, responding to claims made during the policy period, so a lapse can leave claims arising from past projects in a gap. Second, while the architect's design and supervision negligence is covered, defects arising from the contractor's construction itself, or the firm's own business disputes, are separate areas. The boundary of cover is exactly how far “design and supervision negligence” extends.
Source: (standard insurance-textbook scenario)
The wording and structure points decision-makers most often overlook
Because a claims-made basis is usual, a lapse can leave claims from past design and supervision projects in a gap in cover.
Architects' liability covers design and supervision negligence. Defects arising from the contractor's construction itself belong to construction-stage insurance and bonds — a different area.
Expanding into structural review, interior or urban design changes the risk. Check that the policy's covered scope of work captures the work you actually perform.
The questions asked most when considering architects' professional liability insurance
Article 20-2 of the Certified Architects Act and its Enforcement Decree make professional liability insurance mandatory or recommended for architectural firms performing design and supervision work above a certain scale. The applicable criteria differ by the scale of work, so check against the relevant law.
Bodily injury or property damage caused to owners and third parties by negligence in the architect's design and supervision work — design-document errors, inadequate structural review, deficient supervision — is what is covered.
Architects' professional liability insurance covers the architect's design and supervision negligence. Defects arising from the contractor's construction itself are a separate area, handled by construction-stage insurance and bonds.
This cover is generally written on a claims-made basis. A claim arising from a past project can be covered if it is made during the policy period, but claims already known before inception are excluded, and it is important to keep cover in force without a lapse.
Expanding into structural review, interior or urban design changes the risk. Check at application that the policy's covered scope of work captures the work you actually perform.
The insurer calculates it based on firm size and staff, revenue, the type and scale of current projects, the limit, and past claims history. The exact premium and terms are confirmed after underwriting by insurers such as AIG, Chubb, DB, Hyundai, KB and Meritz.
