Sparks, Heavy Machinery, and Parts That Must Not Fail.
Protecting fabricators, crews, and the parts they build
Metal fabrication shops cut, weld, machine, and assemble metal into parts and structures — and their signature hazards are hot work and heavy powered machinery, with a durable product whose failure years later is the key liability. A welding or grinding spark is the leading cause of shop fires, a press brake or shear can amputate in an instant, and a structural weldment that fails in service can injure people long after delivery. A fabrication business needs coverage built around fire, machinery, and completed operations. This is a specialized corner of manufacturing insurance built for how fabricators actually get sued.
Properly structured coverage protects the shop, its crew, and the components it fabricates.
The Metal Fabricator's Signature Exposures
Hot-work fire is the first defining exposure — welding, cutting, and grinding sparks ignite shop fires and cause severe burns, especially around oils, hydraulic fluid, and metal dust, which is why fire watch, combustible removal, and hot-work permits matter. The second is products and completed operations on fabricated parts: a bracket, weldment, mezzanine, stair, or structural assembly that fails in service can cause injury and six- or seven-figure claims years after delivery, with structural and safety-critical work carrying the highest weight. Heavy machinery — press brakes, shears, ironworkers, lasers — drives amputation and crush injuries, and welding fume and grinding dust create long-latency occupational-health exposure.
Key Risks in Metal Fabrication
Metal fabricators face exposure related to:
Hot-work fires from welding, cutting, and grinding sparks
A fabricated or welded part failing in service after delivery
Amputation and crush injuries from press brakes, shears, and ironworkers
Fire damage to a customer's property during field installation
Welding-fume and respirable-dust health exposure
Damage to customer-owned material staged for processing
The hot-work fire and the completed-operations failure of a fabricated part are what most define the shop.
Core Coverages for Metal Fabricators
A properly built fabrication program typically includes:
Product Liability & Completed Operations — Covers fabricated, welded, and assembled metal that fails after delivery — frequently under-limited for structural shops and the most consequential coverage.
General Liability — Covers premises and ongoing operations, including fire damage to a customer's property during field installation.
Commercial Property — Covers the building, machinery, raw stock, and work in process.
Equipment Breakdown — Covers sudden mechanical or electrical failure of press brakes, shears, lasers, and compressors.
Business Interruption — Replaces income when a covered loss idles production.
Workers' Compensation — Provides legally required coverage for burns, amputations, lacerations, and fume and dust exposure — usually the largest line.
Commercial Auto & Inland Marine — Cover trucks and the transit of stock and finished assemblies.
Pollution Liability — Addresses metal-finishing and plating effluent, coolant, and solvent releases.
Umbrella / Excess Liability — Adds higher limits above the primary program given structural-failure severity.
What's Commonly Overlooked
Metal-fabrication programs are most often weakened by:
Completed-operations limits too low for structural or safety-critical parts
No coverage for fire damage to a customer's property during installation
Bailee exposure for customer-owned material staged in the shop
Weak hot-work controls, which raise fire risk and premium
No pollution coverage for finishing and plating
The gap that hurts most is inadequate completed-operations coverage for parts that fail in service.
Real-World Claim Examples
A welded stair or mezzanine fails months after delivery and injures people
Cutting or grinding sparks ignite combustibles and burn down the shop
A press-brake amputation occurs during a die change without lockout
Field-installation sparks damage a customer's building
A former welder brings a long-latency fume-exposure claim
Any one of these can be severe, and the structural-failure claim can reach seven figures.
Regulatory & Safety Context
OSHA governs hot work — permits, fire watch, and combustible removal — along with machine guarding and mechanical-power-press rules, lockout/tagout, hexavalent chromium and respirable-silica exposure, and hazard communication, and carriers mirror the fire-prevention standard for hot work. Metal-finishing and plating operations fall under federal pretreatment standards and hazardous-waste rules, and contractor or business licensing applies where the shop performs field installation.
Why Proper Placement Matters
Underwriters weigh sales and payroll, the type of work — structural and safety-critical carries higher product-liability weight than non-critical brackets — the end use of parts (aerospace, automotive, and load-bearing rate highest), the scope of field installation, exports, and loss history, and they scrutinize fire-protection controls: a hot-work permit system, fire watch, sprinklers, ventilation, machine guarding, and lockout/tagout. The class is generally available, but hot-work discipline and completed-operations end use drive both appetite and price. Placing the account well, and presenting the controls, is what keeps the coverage sound.
Our Approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we insure metal fabricators around fire, machinery, and completed operations. We size product and completed-operations limits to your end use, coordinate property, equipment breakdown, and business interruption around the fire exposure, and add workers' compensation, pollution, and umbrella — while helping you present hot-work and guarding controls the way underwriters reward. We also insure related manufacturers, including food and beverage manufacturing, plastics manufacturing, and furniture manufacturing, and the broader manufacturing category.
A part you fabricate today can fail years from now — we build coverage that follows it into service.
All insurance descriptions on this website are provided by Cory Washington & Co. LLC strictly for general informational purposes. They are not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal, financial, or insurance advice. The information presented is general in nature and does not guarantee the availability, terms, conditions, or scope of any insurance coverage. Actual coverage is determined solely by the specific policy language issued by the insurer and remains subject to underwriting approval. Nothing on this website creates or implies an agent-client relationship, binds coverage, or alters any existing policy. Cory Washington & Co. LLC expressly disclaims any liability for actions taken, or not taken, based on the content provided here. For advice regarding your particular situation, please consult directly with a licensed insurance professional at Cory Washington & Co. LLC or another qualified insurance professional, and always review your policy documents in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get metal fabrication insurance through Cory Washington & Co.?
Request a quote or contact our team. We start with a short conversation about your operations, analyze your exposures, then negotiate metal fabrication insurance across multiple carriers that compete for your account and present options with the trade-offs explained. Cory Washington & Co. LLC is licensed in all 50 states.
How much does metal fabrication insurance cost?
It depends on your exposure. Metal fabrication insurance is priced on factors like your industry, size, prior claims, and the limits and deductibles you select — so two businesses rarely pay the same. We shop your account across competing carriers and present the trade-offs in plain English.
Who needs metal fabrication insurance?
Whether metal fabrication insurance is strictly required depends on your state, your contracts, and your lenders or clients. Even where it is not mandatory, going without it can leave serious financial gaps. We assess your exposure and any contractual requirements, then structure coverage that meets both.
What if another agency has already declined or non-renewed my coverage?
Difficult, specialty, and previously-declined placements are a core part of our work. We access excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets that many generalist agencies cannot, and we explain the trade-offs clearly so you can decide with confidence.
Available in all 50 states. See how requirements differ in California, Texas, Florida, New York, or choose your state.