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Professional Painters Insurance Fresno, CA
Painting contractors do interior and exterior painting of residential or commercial buildings, other structures, such as ships or bridges, street or parking lot striping, and signs. Equipment and supplies may include paints, stains, enamels, varnishes, special soundproof or waterproof substances, and insulation. Painters may perform work on new construction, in connection with ongoing maintenance, or during renovation.
Typically the work involves surface preparation (including removal of old wall coverings), application of the paint, finish work, and cleanup. The removal and disposal of lead-based paints from older buildings and structures presents a lead contamination exposure affecting liability, environmental, and workers compensation.
Unfortunate events such as a fall from scaffolding or a ladder or even a paint spill in a customer's home, can lead you on the path to a lawsuit. Modern society has become very litigious, and that means that smart painting business owners should not work without the right commercial insurance. Even if you work on your own and have no employees, you are still subject to risks that can be mediated by insurance from Kerr Insurance Brokers, Inc.
What kind of insurance does my paint business need?
Liability insurance. This type of insurance protects you for claims arising from general liability or property damage.
Worker's compensation insurance. Coverage of this nature provides employees with medical payments should they be injured or get sick due to a painting job related cause.
Commercial auto insurance. Auto insurance policies for commercial use cover vehicles used in painting in CA. This coverage is often included in business insurance policies.
Contractor Insurance Specialties
Commercial Painters
Residential Painters
Indoor/Outdoor specialty painters
Business Owners Insurance and Liability Coverage
Many Fresno, CA painting businesses opt for a business owner's policy, sometimes referred to by the acronym BOP. This is the primary insurance for the business and is designed for those businesses that have fewer than 100 workers and less than $5 million in annual revenue. A bundled policy, it puts your main property coverage and liability coverage under one umbrella, usually with a lower premium than you would pay if you purchased each type of coverage on its own.
Usually, business owner's policies include a mix of coverage options, including:
Property insurance coverage. This insurance covers damage or loss to the property, the business' inventory, and its equipment.
Bodily injury/property damage liability coverage. This type of coverage protects clients and others from damage or loss resulting from your actions or the actions of your employees, services, or products that you offer. It is invariably a good idea to purchase as much bodily injury/property damage liability coverage as you can afford to fully insure your business against potential claims.
Business interruption coverage. This important coverage pays for up to one year of lost revenue caused by an insured loss of property.
Commercial auto insurance. This insurance coverage protects the vehicles owned or leased by the business for business use.
Medical payment insurance. This coverage pays medical costs for people injured on property owned or leased by the business.
Fresno, Ca painting businesses can expect to pay premiums for these coverage types based on the amount of liability coverage desired by them or required by the state in which they conduct business. The number of workers employed by the business, the number of vehicles the business owns or leases, and the nature of the business also affect premium costs. For example, whether your business does interior or exterior painting or both may raise or lower your rates.
Worker's Compensation Coverage for Painting Businesses In Fresno, CA
The most important part of owning a business and hiring employees is complying with worker's compensation compliance laws. In most states and particularly, CA workers compensation is required before you can process payroll and hire an employoee. It protects them from loss due to work-related illness, injury, or death.
California requires worker's compensation for all employees that are not the painting business owners. Worker's compensation can help pay for medical expenses related to the injury or illness caused on the job.
Fresno, CA Painting Contractors Risk Exposures
Premises liability exposures at the contractor's office are generally limited due to lack of public access. If there is a storage yard or shop operation, a fire can spread to neighboring businesses or homes. Controls in waste handling and fire control are important.
Outdoor storage may create vandalism and attractive nuisance hazards. Off-site exposures are extensive. Jobsite operations include the potential for bodily injury to members of the household, the public, or employees of other contractors, or damage to their property or completed work.
Tools, power cords, painting materials and scrap all pose trip hazards even when not in use. If there is work at heights, falling tools or supplies may cause bodily injury or property damage if dropped from ladders and scaffolding. Removal of old paint or wall coverings may involve scraping, chemical applications, or sandblasting which can damage other property of the client. The job may require the removal of old lead-based paint.
Exterior painting presents an over spray exposure which may damage surrounding premises, vehicles, or structures. All exterior spray painting or sandblasting operations need to be handled with great care. When interior work is done in buildings, ships, tanks, or other structures, ventilation is vital for the safety of clients, passersby, and the contractor's workers since fumes can cause severe bodily injury.
Environmental impairment liability exposures happens from the application or removal, transport, and disposal of paints, solvents, varnishes, and other chemicals. The removal, transportation and disposal of lead paint are particularly hazardous. Although the application of lead paint is now a controlled substance, it is still available and approved for specific commercial and industrial applications. The chips and dust generated during surface preparation present a significant hazard because ingested lead is associated with severe neurological and developmental disorders, especially in young children. Transportation and disposal procedures must adhere to all EPA and other regulatory standards. Training and supervision of employees are critical.
Workers compensation exposures are vast. Raning from caustics, paints and thinners generate fumes that can result in irritation to the eye, nose, throat, skin and lungs. Workers may be exposed to dust and chips containing lead. Back injury, hernia, sprains and strains can result from lifting. The use of power tools can result in cuts and burns. Casual labor and high turnover may be a problem, especially in the prep and cleanup work.
When work is done on ladders and scaffolds, there is a potential for injury from falling, being struck by falling objects, or adverse weather conditions. The absence of good maintenance of scaffolds, proper use of basic safety equipment, such as properly installed guards, steel-toed shoes, and eye protection, and strict enforcement of safety practices may indicate a morale hazard. The removal of old paint presents a serious exposure. Lack of a procedure to determine if the paint to be removed is lead based, or lack of procedures for safe clean-up and disposal of chips and the solvents used to remove lead, adds significantly to the loss potential.
Property exposures are typically limited to your office and storage for supplies, tools and vehicles. If there are shop operations, fire or explosion can result from the flammability of paints, varnishes and thinners or the use of dip tanks and/or spray booths. Spray booths should have explosion resistant lighting and be separated from combustibles. Poor housekeeping or improper storage or labeling of flammable, hazardous, or reactive substances significantly increases the inherent hazards.
Crime exposures are from employee dishonesty. Background checks, including criminal history, should be performed on all employees providing services to customers or handling money. All ordering, billing and disbursement should be handled as separate duties with reconciliations occurring regularly.
Inland marine exposures include accounts receivable if the painter offers credit to customers, contractors' equipment and tools, goods in transit, installation floater, and valuable papers and records for customers' and suppliers' information. The equipment may be limited to brushes, rollers and other hand tools, or there may be sprayers, ladders, scaffolding, cherry pickers, and similar equipment.
There may be rental, leasing or borrowing of specialized equipment. The transport of barrels of paint and other materials and equipment can be difficult; training in proper handling is essential. During installation, the materials are subject to loss or damage by fire, theft, contamination, damage by employees of other contractors, vandalism, and weather-related perils.
Business auto exposures are generally limited to transporting workers, equipment, and paints and other materials to and from job sites. MVRs must be run on a regular basis. Random drug and alcohol testing should be conducted. Vehicles must be well maintained with records kept in a central location. Hazards of transport include upsets or spills while hauling heavy containers of paint. Vehicles may have special modifications or built-in equipment such as lifts and hoists.
Bonds
Writes a wide range of surety products, including standard contract surety, commercial surety and miscellaneous non-contract surety and small fidelity bonds.
Property & Inland Marine
Offers specialized insurance solutions to clients with monoline property and inland marine coverage needs in a variety of industries.
Work Comp
Provides exceptional workers compensation rates from over 100 A and A+r
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