Question:
: We are building an apartment block in the centre of Israel. One of the purchasers wants to visit the construction site with her two children, aged 10 and 13, and is willing to pay to extend the insurance to cover their visit. What do we need to do?
Children trespassing on construction sites
Answer:
The unequivocal answer is “Don’t!”. A construction site is not a place for children.
And it goes to show – The law prohibits anyone under the age of 18 entering a construction site in Israel.
Therefore, in addition to the inherent potentially life threatening hazard involved, allowing children to enter construction sites, for any reason, is inconsistent with the intention of the legislator and the safety enforcement authorities, and in certain cases could create problems with the insurance company, since permitting a child to enter a construction site could be considered as a breach of the insured’s duty of care.
The Contractors All Risks policy might not provide cover in the event of injury to a child, who should not be there in the first place, especially in view of the substantial contributory negligence of the insured for giving permission.
It is also fair to assume that no insurance company will agree to extend the policy to cover such an eventuality, even for an additional premium.
For further reading on an interesting debate held in the Knesset regarding children involved in accidents in construction sites (in Hebrew) click here.