# 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.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-safety-officer-site-safety-coordinator.php  
Updated: 2026-10-14

## 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.

## At a glance

- **Legal basis:** Employers appoint safety officers in writing under § 5 ASiG, also through external services under § 19 ASiG; clients appoint site coordinators under § 3 Baustellenverordnung
- **Compulsory:** No insurance required by law, but clients regularly ask for proof of liability cover
- **Biggest risk:** A serious workplace accident after which your risk assessment or coordination is questioned
- **Basic cover from:** about €400 to €900 a year for professional liability covering injury, property damage and financial loss, a guide figure from our quotes
- **Often forgotten:** Criminal legal cover: after accidents with injuries, investigations often target everyone involved, advisers included

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **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.
- **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.
- **Fire after advice:** An escape plan was out of date or a smoke vent untested. After a fire the property insurer asks questions.
- **Criminal investigation:** After serious accidents prosecutors investigate negligent injury or homicide, often against several people.
- **Damage during inspections:** You knock over measuring equipment in production or lose a master key.
- **Fee disputes:** Clients cut invoices or end framework contracts, often after a conflict over safety measures.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 5, Fire and water 2, Theft 2, Cyber 2, Downtime 3, Health 3

## The insurance you need

- **Professional indemnity** (Essential): For injury, property damage and financial loss arising from advice, risk assessments, coordination and inspections. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-professional-indemnity.php
- **Business legal expenses** (Essential): With criminal legal cover for investigations after workplace accidents and contract cover for fee disputes. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-legal-expenses.php
- **Business liability** (Strongly advised): For damage from your office and during inspections, such as broken equipment or lost keys; often part of a combined policy. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Occupational disability** (Strongly advised): Protects your income as a self employed adviser if illness stops you working for good. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-occupational-disability.php
- **Electronic equipment** (Depends on the business): For laptop, noise, light and air measuring devices and thermal camera, also on the road. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-electronic-equipment.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Depends on the business): For attacks on your risk assessments and client data. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php
- **Accident insurance** (Depends on the business): For accidents during site visits if you are not voluntarily insured with a Berufsgenossenschaft. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-accident-insurance.php

## 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.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional indemnity | External safety officer, turnover up to €100,000, €3 million combined | about €400 to €900 a year |
| Professional indemnity | Site safety coordinator for building projects, turnover up to €200,000, €5 million combined | about €900 to €2,000 a year |
| Business legal expenses | Self employed adviser with criminal and contract legal cover | about €350 to €800 a year |
| Electronic equipment | Laptop and measuring devices worth €10,000 | about €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._

- [§ 5 Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz: appointment of safety officers](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/asig/__5.html)
- [§ 19 Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz: external services](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/asig/__19.html)
- [§ 3 Baustellenverordnung: coordination](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/baustellv/__3.html)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Sole adviser** (external safety officer or fire safety officer working alone): Professional indemnity, Business legal expenses, Electronic equipment. Together: about €900 to €2,000 a year
- **SiGeKo** (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
- **Service** (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

## 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.

- 07:15: 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)
- 09:00: The prosecutor opens an investigation against the site manager and the coordinator; you need a defence lawyer. (€8,000, Paid by: Business legal expenses)
- 11:30: During an inspection your bag knocks over test equipment in production. (€3,500, Paid by: Business liability)
- 14:00: Your laptop with all risk assessments is stolen from the car. (€2,500, Paid by: Electronic equipment)
- 16:20: 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)
- 18:10: A company claims your wrong advice caused an unnecessary refit. (€12,000, Paid by: Professional indemnity)

**Damage so far:** €90,000

## Practical tips from your broker

- Make sure your professional liability covers injury and property damage, not only financial loss.
- Have every role named: safety officer, site safety coordinator, fire safety officer, risk assessments and training.
- Take out criminal legal cover; after accidents with injuries, investigations are more common than damages claims.
- Keep written records of recommendations, deadlines and client responses; your responsibility often ends where the employer decides.
- Check liability caps in your contracts and match the sum insured to them.
- 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.

## FAQ

### 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.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison, free of charge. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-safety-officer-site-safety-coordinator.php#anfrage

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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.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, +49 3375 29 12 77, info@nammert.com. Wikidata: Q141141479.