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Insurance for safety officers, site safety coordinators and fire safety officers in Germany

As an external safety officer (Fachkraft für Arbeitssicherheit), a health and safety coordinator on construction sites (SiGeKo) or a fire safety officer, you advise on hazards that can injure people. After a serious accident the Berufsgenossenschaft, the public prosecutor and insurers ask whether your advice was right. This page explains which insurance you need in Germany, what it costs and why pure financial loss cover falls short.

Insurance for safety officers, site safety coordinators and fire safety officers in Germany

The question almost everyone asks first

Is financial loss liability cover, as for management consultants, enough?

Usually not. Your advice is meant to prevent accidents, so when something goes wrong the damage is mostly physical: a fall from scaffolding, a fire, an injured fitter. Pure financial loss cover excludes exactly that. You need professional liability that includes injury, property damage and financial loss from advice, inspections and coordination, plus criminal legal cover.

What goes wrong in this trade

  1. 01

    Accident after an inspection

    You missed an unguarded edge or flagged a measure too late. A worker falls, and the question is who should have spotted it.

  2. 02

    Gap in the safety plan

    The site safety plan does not say who alters the scaffolding and when. Two trades get in each other's way and someone is hurt.

  3. 03

    Fire after advice

    An escape plan was out of date or a smoke vent untested. After a fire the property insurer asks questions.

  4. 04

    Criminal investigation

    After serious accidents prosecutors investigate negligent injury or homicide, often against several people.

  5. 05

    Damage during inspections

    You knock over measuring equipment in production or lose a master key.

  6. 06

    Fee disputes

    Clients cut invoices or end framework contracts, often after a conflict over safety measures.

Risk radar
Liability 5Fire and water 2Theft 2Cyber 2Downtime 3Health 3

Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.

The insurance you need

Essential

Professional indemnity

For injury, property damage and financial loss arising from advice, risk assessments, coordination and inspections.

Business legal expenses

With criminal legal cover for investigations after workplace accidents and contract cover for fee disputes.

Strongly advised

Business liability

For damage from your office and during inspections, such as broken equipment or lost keys; often part of a combined policy.

Depends on the business

Electronic equipment

For laptop, noise, light and air measuring devices and thermal camera, also on the road.

Accident insurance

For accidents during site visits if you are not voluntarily insured with a Berufsgenossenschaft.

What it costs: example prices

Premiums depend on turnover, scope of work and whether you coordinate construction sites. Coordinating large sites costs more than advising offices.

InsuranceExampleTypical range
Professional indemnityExternal safety officer, turnover up to €100,000, €3 million combinedabout €400 to €900 a year
Professional indemnitySite safety coordinator for building projects, turnover up to €200,000, €5 million combinedabout €900 to €2,000 a year
Business legal expensesSelf employed adviser with criminal and contract legal coverabout €350 to €800 a year
Electronic equipmentLaptop and measuring devices worth €10,000about €150 to €350 a year

For comparison: Professional liability for an external safety officer costs about as much a year as two days of consulting at a client.

All amounts are guide figures from our quotes as of October 2026, excluding insurance tax.

The sources document the legal basis for appointments.

Sources of the price examples

Our suggestions: three packages

01

Sole adviser

For: external safety officer or fire safety officer working alone

  • Professional indemnity
  • Business legal expenses
  • Electronic equipment

Together about €900 to €2,000 a year

Request this package

02

SiGeKo

For: site safety coordinator, also with safety officer mandates

  • Professional indemnity
  • Business legal expenses
  • Electronic equipment
  • Accident insurance
  • Occupational disability

Together about €2,200 to €4,500 a year, including disability cover

Request this package

03

Service

For: external safety service with several specialists

  • Professional indemnity
  • Business liability
  • Business legal expenses
  • Electronic equipment
  • Cyber insurance

Together individual, usually from about €3,000 a year

Request this package

The worst day in occupational safety

Six things that really happen to external safety officers and coordinators, here all on one Monday. Tap through and see who pays.

Damage so far€90,000
  1. On a site you coordinate, a fitter falls through an unguarded floor opening and claims damages from you and the contractors.

    €60,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity

  2. The prosecutor opens an investigation against the site manager and the coordinator; you need a defence lawyer.

    €8,000 · Paid by: Business legal expenses

  3. During an inspection your bag knocks over test equipment in production.

    €3,500 · Paid by: Business liability

  4. Your laptop with all risk assessments is stolen from the car.

    €2,500 · Paid by: Electronic equipment

  5. A client ends the contract after a dispute about costly safety measures and does not pay the last invoice.

    €4,000 · Paid by: Business legal expenses

  6. A company claims your wrong advice caused an unnecessary refit.

    €12,000 · Paid by: Professional indemnity

Which package would you have had?

Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €90,000

Illustrative amounts before any excess.

What is paid depends on the policy terms.

Practical tips from your broker

  1. Make sure your professional liability covers injury and property damage, not only financial loss.
  2. Have every role named: safety officer, site safety coordinator, fire safety officer, risk assessments and training.
  3. Take out criminal legal cover; after accidents with injuries, investigations are more common than damages claims.
  4. Keep written records of recommendations, deadlines and client responses; your responsibility often ends where the employer decides.
  5. Check liability caps in your contracts and match the sum insured to them.
  6. If you coordinate large building projects, have the sum for personal injury checked per project.

Why NAMMERT for your business

We check the cover for injury

As an insurance broker, Norman Nammert makes sure your professional liability does not stop at financial loss and compares several insurers.

Advice in English

We explain German policy wording and the German legal position in plain English.

Liability and legal cover together

After an accident both policies work side by side. We align them, on +49 3375 29 12 77.

No cost to you

We have been arranging insurance since 1989. The insurer pays our commission, not you.

Frequently asked questions

Questions and answers

Is professional liability compulsory for safety officers in Germany?

Not by law.

Employers appoint safety officers in writing under § 5 ASiG,

also externally or through services under § 19 ASiG.

Clients regularly ask for proof of cover, though.

When does a construction site need a SiGeKo?

Under § 3 Baustellenverordnung, when employees of several employers work on a site.

The client may also take on the tasks itself.

What does professional liability cost?

About €400 to €900 a year for an external safety officer and about €900 to €2,000 for coordinators

on larger sites.

These are guide figures from our quotes.

Why is financial loss cover not enough?

Because mistakes in occupational safety mostly cause injury and property damage,

which pure financial loss cover excludes.

Does liability insurance pay my lawyer in a criminal case?

No.

Liability insurance defends civil claims.

For a defence lawyer in an investigation you need criminal legal cover.

Are training sessions covered?

Only if named as an activity in the policy.

Have training, instructions and fire drills included explicitly.

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request quotes for Occupational safety

The recommended covers are ticked.

Change what does not fit; we compare quotes, in English.

1Who is it for?
2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

3Details

Occupational disability insurance (Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung)

For example data analyst in an office, or civil engineer with site visits

We discuss details personally for an anonymous enquiry

For example how long you plan to stay in Germany, self-employment, existing policies

Business liability insurance in Germany (Betriebshaftpflicht)

For example electrical installation in homes, café with outdoor seating, online shop for furniture

For example work at clients' sites, own products, exports to the US, parent company abroad

Professional indemnity insurance in Germany (Berufshaftpflicht)

For example tax adviser with payroll, freelance software developer,

architect for residential buildings

For example current policy abroad, clients in the US, side activities,

expiry date of existing cover

Business legal expenses insurance in Germany (Firmenrechtsschutz)

For example plumbing business, tax practice, online shop for electronics

Existing disputes cannot be insured, but knowing about them helps us advise you

4Your current policy
5How can we reach you?

Related trades

Expert

Expert

Am I liable as a court-appointed expert too?

Boat or yacht? NAMMERT has its own cover concepts for boats, arranged by the same broker.

Boat insurance

Your broker: Norman Nammert, trading as NAMMERT.

Insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act.

Broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH is a separate company.

It does not arrange your contract.

Statutory disclosure (German) · Updated