Who This Is For

Steel fabrication shops, structural fabricators, custom metal shops, ornamental and architectural metal fabricators, and manufacturers of welded assemblies serving construction, industrial, architectural, and commercial clients. This includes shops ranging from small custom fabricators to large structural steel producers.

Risk Profile

Fabrication shops carry five major categories of insurance exposure. Property exposure is significant — buildings, production machinery (plate rolls, press brakes, saws, cranes), raw steel inventory, work-in-process, and finished goods all represent major insurable values. Products and completed operations liability is the longest-tail exposure for structural and load-bearing fabrications — a failed weld or structural component can generate claims years after delivery. Workers compensation is essential for production floor employees doing physically demanding, hazardous work involving heavy equipment, overhead lifts, and hot work. Commercial auto exposure includes delivery trucks, forklifts (if used on public roads), and employee driving. Business interruption from shop fire, roof collapse, or major equipment damage can mean months of lost production revenue while the facility is restored.

Common Insurance Requirements

Construction general contractors require $1M/$2M GL with products and completed operations coverage, and often impose $5M–$10M umbrella requirements for structural steel packages. Steel erectors and connection engineering firms require completed operations coverage to remain in force for multiple years after project delivery. Some structural projects require project-specific or owner-controlled insurance program (OCIP) compliance. AWS Certified Welding Fabricator (CWF) accreditation clients may have specific insurance demands tied to their quality program contracts.

Recommended Coverage

Why the AWS Insurance Program

Fabrication shops are among the most challenging welding operations to insure properly — combining hot work exposure, heavy machinery, significant property values, and long-tail completed operations liability in a single operation. Many standard commercial package insurers apply surcharges or exclusions that leave fabrication shops underinsured or overpaying for coverage that doesn't fit. The AWS Insurance Program provides access to specialty markets that understand fabrication operations from the ground up, including completed operations coverage structured to actually protect you after a project ships. Program specialists work with fabrication shops of all sizes to build packages that reflect your real risk profile.