The London Engineering Group, whose model defect exclusion clauses are used internationally in Construction All Risks and Engineering All Risks policies, has become affiliated with the International Underwriting Association. The practical consequence is that LEG's clauses will now sit alongside the IUA's online library of more than 1,000 model insurance and reinsurance clauses - a consolidation of engineering insurance market infrastructure that gives those wordings greater institutional backing at a moment when the market they govern is shifting.
The timing is relevant. A Gallagher Specialty report found the global construction insurance market showing clear signs of softening, with premium reductions on well-performing annual contractor programmes. Professional indemnity cover for construction professionals has softened even faster. Fire safety and cladding coverage, previously restricted following years of underwriting caution after the Grenfell Tower fire, has started to return on a limited basis. When market conditions are changing - new risks returning to appetite, pricing assumptions being revised - having well-resourced, institutionally backed clause development becomes more rather than less important, since model wordings may need updating to reflect coverage that is now being written again after years of exclusion.
LEG was established in 1984 and has operated independently as a forum for insurers covering engineering, plant, machinery and construction-related risks, producing technical research, education and the model clauses that have become standard reference points in CAR and EAR underwriting internationally. The affiliation gives LEG access to the IUA's secretariat for administrative support on its meetings and sub-groups, and its clauses will now sit alongside the IUA's existing library. The IUA already established a Construction and Engineering Claims Committee for this class of business, giving the LEG affiliation an existing technical structure to build on.
LEG's training sessions for members will become part of the IUA's education programme, which has grown recently with the launch of a NextGen Underwriting Committee in 2026 to support early-career underwriters and policy wordings masterclasses planned with the Clauses Committee. The IUA's established relationships with UK government departments, regulators and other trade bodies will also now be used to represent LEG members' interests - a more direct advocacy channel than LEG has previously had access to as an independent body.
Chris Jones, the IUA's chief executive, noted there is overlap between LEG's membership and IUA member companies, which is likely to have simplified the administrative arrangements underpinning the affiliation. Charlie Dee, UK construction underwriting manager at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance and LEG chair, said the affiliation would support the group's work on knowledge sharing and clause development. The IUA will also support the hosting of LEG's annual conference.
