Inherent Defect Liability

Inherent defect liability, also known as decennial or latent defects cover, responds to damage caused by a defect in the design, workmanship or materials of a completed building that only becomes apparent after handover - typically a structural failure in the load-bearing frame or the envelope.

It is arranged before construction starts, because it depends on a technical inspection service reviewing the works as they are built. Developers and lenders on Saudi projects increasingly ask for it, so that a structural failure still has a policy behind it once the contractor's liability period has run.