The classic downtown brick building is a jewel of city life and one of the most interesting puzzles in insurance at the same time: a hundred years old or more, thick walls, high ceilings, an ornate façade – and behind it timber floor structures, tired pipework and external access galleries. Here patina and risk go hand in hand, but the good news is that both are manageable if the building knows what to watch.
- An old brick building has three sensitive points: timber floor and roof structures, ageing building systems, and the façade as a liability risk.
- When sizing the value, the cost of restoring ornate, one-off features is easily underestimated – a professional survey is often justified here.
- In an old building, documenting maintenance is not paperwork for its own sake but a basic condition of claims settlement.
The structure: solid – with combustible details
A thick brick wall is an excellent structure, but the floors and roof structures of old buildings were typically built of timber – so the fire risk is a more nuanced picture than in modern blocks. On the insurance side this calls for precise structural data (“brick” on its own says too little – the floor structure counts as well: the article on structures), and on the building's side for regular inspection of the electrical system and the chimneys: fires in old buildings typically start there.
The building systems: a legacy, in the good and the bad sense
In a hundred-year-old building the pipework is a patchwork of several generations of repairs – the risk of water damage is therefore high on the list, and insurers may apply separate rules to old pipes. The building's best strategy is a planned replacement schedule and documentation of every completed section: at quote stage the line “riser replaced in [year]” is a material factor. Damp in the cellar and the foundations is another old-building theme – policies typically deal with it only to a limited extent, and the real answer is a structural one.
The façade: the lead player in liability
Ornate cornices, stucco work and balconies are the face of an old building – and, above the pavement, its most serious liability risk: falling render and crumbling ornament are the classic downtown claim. Two things follow: liability cover with a realistic limit, and documented monitoring of condition – façade surveys, immediate attention to dangerous sections, protective netting where justified. The “everyone could see it was flaking” situation is the worst possible starting point in a claim: the article on third-party liability claims.
Value: the price of patina
For an old building's rebuild value, standard per-square-metre rules of thumb can mislead: restoring an ornate façade, bespoke windows and doors or high ceilings means specialist work at a specialist price – all the more so where heritage protection applies. A professional valuation is often justified here, and avoiding underinsurance is a priority. After renovations – façade, roof, access gallery – updating the sum insured is a compulsory step: value maintenance. A separate article covers the period of a major renovation: insurance among the scaffolding.
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