Fencing Contractor Insurance in Washington State

Fencing contractors occupy an interesting position in the insurance landscape — it's a lower-risk trade compared to roofing or demolition, but it carries specific exposures that catch many fence installers off guard. The most distinctive risk is the property line dispute. Your entire job revolves around building structures at the boundary between two properties, and even a few inches of miscalculation can put a fence on a neighbor's land. When that happens, you're looking at tear-out costs, replacement expenses, and potentially a lawsuit from an angry property owner who didn't want a fence on their lot in the first place.

Underground utility strikes are a daily hazard for fencing contractors. Every post hole is a potential encounter with buried gas lines, water pipes, electrical conduits, or fiber optic cables. Washington's Call 811 system provides utility locates, but fencing projects often involve dozens of holes across a property, and utilities can shift from their marked positions over time. A single strike on a gas line can evacuate a neighborhood and generate repair costs in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The physical work of fencing carries its own injury risks. Post hole diggers — whether manual augers or hydraulic equipment — can catch on buried roots or rocks and twist violently, causing serious wrist, shoulder, and back injuries. Chain link stretching, welding, and working with heavy pressure-treated lumber posts create additional injury exposure. Workers lifting and setting 8-foot posts, digging in rocky Washington soil, and operating power tools along uneven terrain face daily ergonomic and acute injury risks.

Neighbor property damage is a practical reality of fence work. Your crew is operating heavy equipment and tools right at the property boundary, often in landscaped yards. A skid steer track across a neighbor's lawn, a fence post that punctures a sprinkler line on the adjacent property, or concrete overspill from post-setting that damages plantings — these seemingly minor incidents generate claims that add up. Working in residential neighborhoods also means navigating driveways, avoiding parked vehicles, and managing customer expectations around timelines and aesthetics. Proper insurance gives your fencing business the credibility commercial and residential clients expect while protecting you from the claims that are simply part of the trade.