# Insurance for joinery and cabinetmaking workshops in Germany

> In a joinery, your wealth sits in the workshop: panel saw, CNC router, edgebander and a store full of timber and boards. At the customer's home you add fitting work, between a marble windowsill and a designer kitchen. This page explains which insurance your workshop needs and what it costs.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-joiner.php  
Updated: 2026-09-18

## Is my customer's kitchen insured if it burns in my workshop?

Usually not under public liability, because things in your care or being worked on are excluded there or only covered up to a limit. For other people's furniture, doors and fronts in your workshop you need third-party property expressly included in your contents insurance. Ask about it before you store customers' pieces.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No statutory insurance duty; motor liability for fitting vans, and commercial and public clients ask for liability cover
- **Biggest risk:** Fire in the workshop and breakdown of expensive machines, plus damage while fitting at the customer's home
- **Basic cover from:** about €70 a year for the public liability of a small workshop with an excess
- **Statutory accident insurer:** BG Holz und Metall (BGHM), the Berufsgenossenschaft for wood and metal; membership is compulsory from your first employee
- **Often forgotten:** Furniture and components stored or worked on in your workshop for customers are often not included in the standard policy
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 16.21 Herstellung von Furnier-, Sperrholz-, Holzfaser- und Holzspanplatten, 16.22 Herstellung von Parketttafeln, 16.23 Herstellung von sonstigen Konstruktionsteilen, Fertigbauteilen, Ausbauelementen und Fertigteilbauten aus Holz, 16.24 Herstellung von Verpackungsmitteln, Lagerbehältern und Ladungsträgern aus Holz, 16.25 Herstellung von Türen und Fenstern aus Holz, 16.26 Herstellung von festen Brennstoffen aus pflanzlicher Biomasse, 16.27 Veredlung von Holzwaren, 16.28 Herstellung von sonstigen Holzwaren sowie Kork-, Flecht- und Korbwaren, 31.00 Herstellung von Möbeln, 95.24 Reparatur und Instandhaltung von Möbeln und Einrichtungsgegenständen

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **Workshop fire:** Shavings, dust, lacquers and extraction systems: fire insurers put joinery workshops into high hazard classes. A fire destroys machines and orders at the same time.
- **Machinery breakdown:** A CNC router or an edgebander costs six figures. If the control unit fails, production and delivery dates grind to a halt.
- **Fitting at the customer's home:** A dropped hammer scratches the glass worktop, a drill hits a pipe, the fitted kitchen does not fit and the wall has to be redone.
- **Customers' property in the workshop:** Antique furniture for restoration, doors for lacquering: what customers entrust to you is often worth more than your own equipment.
- **Fingers and hands:** Circular saws and surface planers cause the most serious hand injuries of any trade.
- **Faulty installations:** A tall cupboard that comes away from the wall, or a staircase with a step that gives way, leads to injuries you are liable for.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 4, Fire and water 4, Theft 3, Cyber 2, Downtime 4, Health 4

## The insurance you need

- **Business liability** (Essential): Pays for fitting damage and damage to objects you work on at the customer's home, plus injuries caused by faulty furniture, stairs and fittings. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Business contents** (Essential): Without fire and burglary cover for machines, timber and board stock, a workshop fire would be the end; include customers' property here. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php
- **Machinery breakdown** (Strongly advised): Pays for repairing the CNC router, edgebander and extraction after operating errors, short circuits or material defects. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-machinery-breakdown.php
- **Business interruption** (Strongly advised): Keeps the business alive if the workshop stands still for weeks after a fire or machinery breakdown. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Commercial buildings** (Strongly advised): If you own the workshop building, it needs its own buildings insurance. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-commercial-buildings.php
- **Cargo insurance** (Strongly advised): Covers finished furniture and tools on the way to the customer if something breaks or is stolen in transit. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cargo-insurance.php
- **Occupational disability** (Depends on the business): A serious hand injury can end your work at the machine; income protection keeps your earnings going. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-occupational-disability.php
- **Cyber insurance** (Depends on the business): For workshops whose CNC programs, orders and drawings sit on networked computers. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cyber-insurance.php

## What it costs: example prices

Liability is comparatively cheap for joiners. The bigger item is protecting the workshop and machines, because woodworking counts as a higher fire risk.

| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Business liability | €50,000 turnover, €5 million cover | about €70 to €510 a year |
| Business liability | €250,000 turnover, €5 million cover | about €95 to €1,300 a year |
| Business contents | Machines, timber and boards worth €150,000 | about €600 to €1,800 a year |
| Machinery breakdown | CNC machining centre worth €180,000 | about €800 to €2,000 a year |
| Business interruption | Loss of income for up to twelve months, together with contents insurance | about €200 to €700 a year extra |

For comparison: Liability and workshop contents cover for a small joinery cost about as much per year as one made-to-measure solid wood interior door.

_Guide prices excluding German insurance premium tax, as of September 2026. Liability comes from published tariff comparisons; contents, machinery and business interruption are guide values from our quoting practice and depend heavily on extraction, fire protection and the building. We obtain the exact quote for you._

- [betriebshaftpflicht24.de: Betriebshaftpflicht Tischler](https://www.betriebshaftpflicht24.de/betriebshaftpflicht-tischler.html)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Start** (joiner working alone, small workshop, fitting at customers' homes): Business liability, Business contents. Together: about €400 to €1,100 a year
- **Workshop** (three to ten employees with a range of machines): Business liability, Business contents, Machinery breakdown, Business interruption, Cargo insurance. Together: about €1,800 to €4,500 a year
- **Manufacturer** (own building, CNC production and contract furnishing): Business liability, Business contents, Commercial buildings, Machinery breakdown, Business interruption, Cargo insurance, Cyber insurance. Together: about €4,500 to €11,000 a year

## The worst day in the joinery

Six claims that joinery workshops really experience, all on a single Wednesday. Go through the day and see who pays.

- 07:20: The CNC router stops with a spindle failure. The repair takes three weeks. (€22,000, Paid by: Machinery breakdown)
- 09:45: While fitting a door frame, a hammer falls onto the customer's glass kitchen worktop. (€3,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 11:30: In transit, a finished built-in wardrobe slides on the load bed and breaks. (€4,600, Paid by: Cargo insurance)
- 14:00: A fitter damages historic marble windowsills in a period villa. (€18,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 16:15: A wall cupboard fitted last year tears out of the wall and injures the customer's shoulder. (€12,000, Paid by: Business liability)
- 21:30: A spark in the extraction system sets the shavings silos on fire. Workshop and board store are covered in soot, the business stands still for two months. (€190,000, Paid by: Business contents)

**Damage so far:** €249,600

## Practical tips from your broker

- Have third-party property in your workshop expressly included in your contents insurance, with a sum that covers your largest customer orders.
- Insure machines at new value; older machines often have a high replacement price.
- Fitting damage and damage to objects you work on at the customer's home must be included in your liability policy.
- Combine contents and business interruption insurance so that wages and fixed costs keep being paid after a fire.
- Ask about discounts for spark detection, extraction outside the building and a fire alarm system.
- If you build stairs, windows or fire doors, say so expressly: the liability risk is higher than for furniture.

## Why NAMMERT for your business

- **Workshop and liability considered together:** For joiners, the biggest gaps lie between liability and contents insurance. We compare both across several insurers and close the gap in between.
- **We know timber:** Many yachts whose claims we settle ourselves as a boat insurance underwriting agent have timber interiors. We know what a surveyor will say about materials and workmanship.
- **One contact person:** Workshop, vehicles, employees and your private provision all come together with us.
- **Family business since 1989:** We are an owner-managed company ourselves and talk to you as equals, not from a call centre.

## FAQ

### What insurance does a joinery workshop need?

Essential are public liability and contents insurance for the workshop, machines and materials. With expensive machines, add machinery and business interruption insurance.

### How much does liability insurance cost for joiners?

Published comparisons show about €70 to €510 a year for €50,000 turnover and about €95 to €1,300 for €250,000 turnover, depending on insurer and excess.

### Is customers' furniture in my workshop insured?

Only if third-party property is expressly included. Public liability usually excludes things in your care.

### Does insurance pay if my CNC machine breaks down?

Contents insurance only pays for fire, water or burglary. Operating errors, short circuits or material defects are covered by machinery insurance.

### Why is fire insurance more expensive for joiners?

Wood dust and shavings ignite easily. Insurers therefore charge higher premiums and set conditions, for example on extraction and cleaning.

### Do I as the owner have to join the Berufsgenossenschaft?

Membership of BGHM, the statutory accident insurer, is compulsory for your employees. As the owner you can insure yourself voluntarily, which makes sense if you work at the machines yourself.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. Free of charge and without obligation: the insurer pays our commission. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-joiner.php#anfrage

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NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker.

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