Financial Lines – Construction PI
Defending construction professionals across the entire project lifecycle
With deep construction and insurance expertise across Asia Pacific, we help consultants, specialists and their insurers manage risk, respond to claims and resolve complex, multi-party disputes.
Construction PI disputes are technical, fast-moving and often involve many parties, competing expert views and evolving regulatory expectations. WK is one of the region’s leading defence firms for construction consultants and professionals as well as the insurers who cover them.
Our approach is commercial, strategic and grounded in a deep understanding of construction technology, project delivery, and insurance policy interaction. We work closely with insurers and insureds to achieve early, cost-effective resolutions wherever possible and to minimise financial and reputational risk.
Our Construction PI expertise
We have extensive experience defending construction professionals in disputes of all sizes, across commercial, government and residential projects. Our work covers matters arising:
- mid-project (design disputes, performance issues, certification challenges)
- post-completion (defects, non-compliance, product issues)
- long after PC (latent defect and long-tail PI claims)
We are known for our ability to simplify complex technical issues, navigate multi-party environments and provide pragmatic, commercially aligned advice.
Why WK for Construction PI?
- Deep construction expertise, with decades of acting for consultants and insurers
- Insurance-first approach, for clarity policy interaction and coverage issues
- Specialists in complex, technical disputes with strong multi-disciplinary capability
- Asia Pacific footprint, giving clients cross-border insight and defence strategies
- Thought leadership that keeps clients ahead of industry and regulatory changes
- Seamless access to GL, workplace, cyber, property and subrogation teams
How we support insurers and insureds
- Early exposure and triage assessments
- Complex PI coverage advice
- Defence of multi-party claims and cross-claims
- Strategic negotiation and ADR
- Management of expert evidence across disciplines
- Contribution and apportionment strategy
- Subrogated recovery actions
- Coordination with GL, Contract Works, ISR, Cyber and other PLs
Types of projects and disputes we handle
Wotton Kearney can partner with you across the following.
High-profile industry projects
Major construction and infrastructure disputes, including matters involving:
- defective design or certification
- cladding and façade performance
- fire and structural safety
- delays and cost overruns
- class actions on building systems or materials
Our broader experience includes public liability, environmental claims, WorkSafe matters and financial lines issues arising alongside PI exposure.
Energy, resources and infrastructure
We represent consultants involved in wind farms, power stations, processing facilities and large-scale infrastructure projects. Typical issues include:
- alleged design defects
- commissioning and performance failures
- geotechnical challenges
- regulatory and environmental breaches
We move quickly to identify the key issues and advise on exposure, strategy and resolution, both in active litigation and pre-litigation stages.
Land sub-division and contamination
We defend claims on greenfield and brownfield subdivision projects involving:
- design errors
- contamination and remediation disputes
- under-pricing or mis-scoping allegations
- civil and stormwater design failures
Our focus is early, cost-effective and practical outcomes.
Commercial projects
We act in disputes for developments including:
- shopping centres
- supermarkets
- industrial and processing plants
- logistics and warehousing
Issues commonly involve structural and fire engineering, acoustic design, seismic compliance, and complex cross-jurisdictional elements.
Residential and mixed-use projects
We act for construction professionals on disputes involving:
- apartment buildings
- multi-tower developments
- residential subdivisions
Claims typically relate to waterproofing, façade performance, foundation and geotechnical failures, building movement, fire safety, and complex stakeholder interactions.
Case Studies
Real examples of how we've supported our clients.
Shopping centre structural failure – $200m+ dispute
Defending a structural engineering firm in a major claim alleging non-compliant design of a shopping centre and carpark, including earthquake performance and significant rectification costs.
Wind farm acoustic and nuisance dispute
Acting for a global engineering consultancy accused of defective noise modelling on a regional wind farm, with alleged impacts on neighbouring land values and amenity.
Highway and tunnel design dispute
Acting for civil engineers over alleged defective state highway and tunnel design leading to project delays and substantial cost blowouts.
Large residential tower – foundation design failures
Defending engineers accused of defective foundation design for a major high-rise development, resulting in construction delays and complex re-engineering.
Contaminated land advice and subdivision design claims
Representing engineering and environmental consultants in claims over contamination assessment, remediation advice and subdivision design for major green/brownfield projects.
Ready to navigate construction risk with confidence?
Our team supports insurers, corporates, consultants and brokers across Australia, NZ and APAC.
Andrew Moore
Head of Financial Lines
Sydney
Andrew Brennan
Financial Lines
Melbourne
Nick Lux
Financial Lines
Melbourne
Robert Finnigan
Financial Lines
Sydney
Sarah Metcalfe
Financial Lines
Melbourne
Wotton Kearney acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
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