< INSURANCE
PUBLIC LIABILITY
Professional art founders should have a public liability insurance. This is obligatory in most counties and states as it guarantees cover in the event of an injury or death arising from faulty workmanship, negligence and other such eventualities. A copy of any current policy is often displayed in a prominent position on the founder’s premises. Founders however, are not usually responsible for the origination of design features in artwork. In addition, the founder will probably have little or no responsibility for some other safety related aspects of a commission, for instance the sculpture’s location or foundations. Consequently, if an incident arises that is not in any way, or only partially the fault of the founder, then liability (or a portion thereof), may fall to others and this could potentially include the sculptor.
When creating a publicly accessible artwork, artists have a clear responsibility to enure that their design is suitable for the environment in which it is to be displayed. This includes an awareness of the potential for an injury to be sustained by a member of the public. Most commonly, injuries are sustained through someone accidentally walking into an overhang or other protrusion on the cast, though the possibility that an an injury being sustained though the artwork being misused in some way (being climbed upon for instance), should also be considered. On this last point, it is vital to ensure that any publicly accessible artwork is structurally sound and well constructed.
Although variable according to the country of location, responsibility for taking out insurances on publicly accessable works usually falls to the body which retains ownership of the artwork. Artworks which are on long term or permanent loan should be insured by the body in receipt of the loaned work – though any such arrangement should be clarified in writing when the loan is agreed [ref].
OTHER INSURANCES
Insurance covers for any number of eventualities, including default and late delivery penalties, non-payment of commission fees and all risks policies, are available from specialist art and commercial insurance brokers. Some insurances can be taken out on an ‘as needed’ basis for individually named projects, though in the long term, ongoing professional cover for all work done is likely to prove more economical if available.
As with contracts, insurance requirements need not be an issue of undue anxiety – in fact the vast majority of artworks pass from the founder to eventual owner without any specific and individual insurance cover ever being taken out. Notable exceptions can include cover for valuable patterns sent to the founder for reproduction. Whilst the founder is normally under a legal ‘duty of care’ to look after supplied patterns and other supplied designs, their eventual liability may be somewhat limited in the event of a mishap – this is especially the case if reasonable care on the founder’s part can be proved, or if the founder only accepts the pattern under condition of ‘owners risk only’. Foundries are not always the safest of places and accidents can happen, especially given the manual handling that patterns necessarily undergo throughout the production process. Valuable items that are going to to be used as master patterns should always be insured separately by the individual or organisation submitting the work.
Artists and designers who are formally set up as a business and employing assistants may be required by national law to hold certain insurance policies (Employers’ and Public Liability Insurances are usual). Artists who might be affected should seek competent advice to ensure legal compliance.
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