Bodily injury liability

Bodily injury liability is liability for physical injury to a third party, a client, a neighbour, a visitor, a passer-by, arising from building operations. It is the core trigger for a public liability claim, and it sits alongside (but is distinct from) property damage liability.

Public liability insurance responds to two broad heads of third-party loss a builder can cause:

• Bodily injury: someone is physically hurt (a passer-by struck by falling material, a visitor injured by an unguarded excavation, a neighbour hurt by site activity).
• Property damage: a third party’s property is damaged (a neighbour’s wall, a struck service, a flooded property).

Bodily injury is the more serious exposure because injury claims (medical costs, loss of income, pain and suffering) can be very large, which is why public liability limits are set high.

Importantly, bodily injury to a worker is generally covered by workers compensation, not public liability, public liability is for third parties (people not employed on the job). The line between the two matters when a claim arises.

For a builder the practical points are to carry public liability cover with a limit appropriate to the work and the site exposure (high-traffic, near neighbours, public frontage raise the risk), and to manage the site so third parties are protected, fencing, hoarding, exclusion zones, signage, and securing the site after hours, because the cheapest bodily-injury claim is the one prevented. The same controls that satisfy your WHS duty of care to others on and around the site are what keep bodily-injury claims away.

Also known as: Personal injury liability (third party), public liability injury.

Category: Insurance / Liability.

Related

• Public liability insurance

See also

• Duty of care

References

• Public liability insurance (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-04)

---

Last updated: 2026-06-04. Verified: 2026-06-04. Quarterly review for currency.