Owners Protective Professional Indemnity (OPPI)

Some state laws now restrict the ability of public agencies to recover losses from design professionals—defined as architects, landscape architects, engineers, and land surveyors.
Such legislation prohibits public entities from contractually requiring design professionals to defend and indemnify them without showing negligence.

With liability limits up to $50 million, OPPI provides coverage for a wide range of public construction projects, including buildings, airports, power facilities, prisons, schools and colleges, infrastructure, and transportation facilities. Delivery methods can include traditional design-bid-build, design-build, single and multiple prime contractor approaches, and the use of a construction manager.

Indemnity

The policy will indemnify the owner for damages or losses in excess of the design professional’s available insurance or the self-insured retention, whichever is greater.

Expanded Definition of “Professional Consultant”

This addresses the independent consultants who are not part of the prime design team and are contracting directly with the project owner.

Difference in Conditions Clause

To the extent the policy terms and conditions are broader than the underlying architects/engineers policies, the policy will respond to the claim, subject to the self-insured retention.

Third-party Defense Costs

Costs incurred by the owner in defending third-party claims arising from the services performed by the architect/ engineer or contractor are covered.

Additional Owner Advantages

• Increased financial security through ultimate control of the program
• Cost-effective alternative to project-specific professional liability policies
• Supplements the design professional’s practice policy
• Reduces potential adversarial relations with the design team
• One policy covers the duration of the project
• Multiple projects can be scheduled into a single program
• Five-year automatic tail coverage​