A ￡1,000,000 Grand Designs Project

Jensten Insurance brokers are renowned for its property insurance services.?From home and landlord insurance to more specialist covers such as contract works and construction contractors' professional indemnity insurance, Jensten Insurance's specialist team has property covered.?A recent high-profile project drew on the team's skills and demonstrated their willingness to work alongside other professionals to get the job done.

The Grand Designs Project

In April 2020, Lomas & Mitchell Architects asked Damian Chamberlain of R&D Building & Joinery to work with them on a project for Channel 4's Grand Designs programme as the principal contractor.?

Grand Designs is famous for its spectacular, often technically challenging builds, and this was no exception.?The brief was to design and build a large family home in a remote field in Derbyshire.?It was a significant undertaking for all concerned with the build costs alone estimated at ￡1,000,000.??So, Damian approached Jensten's Justin Conroy to ensure they had the correct level of protection in place.

R&D Building & Joinery had been a client of HTC Associates, now part of Jensten Insurance Brokers, for many years and had their contract works insurance with them.?For such a complex and demanding build, it became apparent that a contract-specific policy to run alongside the current Contractors Liability insurance was necessary and so Justin immediately set about arranging suitable cover.?This insured that from day one on-site, the complex works were covered on an all risks basis right through to completion. ?

In March 2021, Structural Fabrications Limited – another HTC client for over twenty years – was named as the main steel contractor on the site.?Given the building's structure was to be steel based, their role was central to the project's success, and it was vital that they had the insurance protection they needed.?Again, Justin reviewed the firm's current contractors and professional indemnity policies to ensure coverage for the project was in place.

Before the first steels were placed, Lomas & Mitchell Architects asked Jensten for some professional indemnity insurance quotations.?All building projects rely on professionals giving advice, and on expensive, limit-testing projects such as this, having the protection of high-quality professional indemnity insurance is a wise move.?Using his extensive knowledge of PI insurance in the construction industry, Justin created a package of cover to protect Lomas & Mitchell Architects from such risks.

Fast forward to September 2022, the build was complete, and the delighted new owners were ready to move in.?This is a magnificently bold piece of modern architecture in true Grand Designs style that will doubtless prove to be a happy home.?To help ensure that outcome and as a further demonstration of Jensten's property insurance capabilities, Justin arranged a high-net-worth policy for the homeowners.

The Grand Designs Project: The Value Of Collaboration

The Grand Designs project highlights the value of expertise and how people can achieve more through collaboration.?This was an exciting yet challenging build, and Lomas & Mitchell Architects and R&D Building & Joinery delivered an impressive project to a thrilled client.?Having Jensten Insurance Brokers on hand to offer advice and to ensure the contractors were adequately protected gave them the freedom to provide the client with the benefit of their advice and achieve the desired result.?

The Jensten Insurance Brokers team would like to thank Jillian Mitchell of Lomas & Mitchell Architects, Damian Chamberlain of R&D Building & Joinery, and Suj Kang of Structural Fabrications Limited for asking us to help with this project and to congratulate them all on doing such a fantastic job.

You can watch the project develop on Channel 4's Grand Designs programme from the 28th of September by clicking here.