Lockton Targets Data Centre Handover Risk With New Coverage Program

Lockton has launched a Builders Risk and Property Program for data centre projects, Capacity Media reported, aiming the insurance product at the awkward handover point when parts of a campus move from construction into live operations while other areas are still being built.

The offer is designed for developers, owners and operators managing large multiphase projects.

Lockton frames the turnover period as a coverage problem as much as a construction milestone: facilities can begin serving customers before an entire site is complete, leaving teams to manage construction risk, operational risk and shifting responsibilities at the same time.

The program’s structure focuses on coverage continuity during that transition.

Instead of treating construction and operations as cleanly separated stages, it is meant to account for sequencing issues and administrative complications that emerge when live data halls sit beside unfinished work.

That makes the product relevant to data centre operators trying to reduce gaps between builder’s risk policies and property coverage.

Safety is another part of the handover challenge.

Construction protocols and operating procedures can diverge, and the partial-turnover phase can expose new hazards as priorities change on site.

Lockton’s data centres and digital infrastructure practice is positioning the coverage around those asset-lifecycle risks rather than only the initial build.

James Nelson, Lockton’s U.S. practice leader for data centres and digital infrastructure, said every project is different and that the firm’s role is to guide clients through changing risks with strategies tied to development plans, operating goals and long-term growth objectives.

The timing reflects the pressure around U.S. digital infrastructure construction.

Research & Markets data cited in the coverage expects U.S. data centre capacity to triple over the next five to six years.

More campuses and phased developments would expand the number of projects where construction schedules, customer activation and insurance boundaries overlap.

For insurers, that growth creates a larger market for products aimed at transition risk.

For developers and operators, the practical test is whether a dedicated turnover-phase structure can keep coverage clear as increasingly complex data centre sites move from building work into revenue-generating operations.