Insuring an ICF, Log, SIP or Modular House: During the Build and After

Construction Insurance

Insuring an ICF, Log, SIP or Modular House: During the Build and After

The wall system you chose matters a great deal to the house. It matters less to the insurer than you have been told, and in one case it matters more.

We have built ICF houses since 1995, so you would expect this page to tell you concrete walls earn a cheaper policy. They do not, not in Canada, not that we can find in writing. Where the system does change the insurance, log homes, SIP deliveries, modular boxes on a crane and the radiant floor we put in every house, this page says how.

Canadian published figures, checked November 2026. Premium ranges are from Canadian brokerages, insurer guides and comparison sites; our planning numbers are marked as ours.

We Build ICF. It Does Not Get You a Cheaper Policy.

Here is the honest version. We build insulated concrete form houses with hydronic radiant floors in Simcoe County, Muskoka and on Georgian Bay, and you can see them at ICFhome.ca. In thirty years of it we have not found a Canadian insurer that publishes an ICF discount. The savings claims come from the United States, mostly hurricane country. The Canadian insurance industry association’s own list of things that lower a home premium names reinforced roofing, sprinklers, alarms, upgraded wiring, heating and plumbing, a higher deductible and a claims-free record. Wall construction is not on it.

The mechanism: a Canadian insurer rates a house by construction class, and an ICF wall lands in masonry or non-combustible, the same box a block house gets. What moves the premium is the site: distance to a fire hall, a hydrant within about 300 metres, your claims history, the roof, the heating.

Ask that the walls be rated as masonry, bring the form manufacturer’s CCMC evaluation report so nobody guesses, and budget on no discount. And never tell anyone the house “cannot burn” or is “fireproof”. The walls are rated non-combustible; the roof trusses, floor joists, cabinets and the contents that start most house fires burn exactly as they do anywhere.

Wall or building systemHow Canadian insurers usually rate itPremium effect, our planning assumption
Wood frameFrame; the base case0%
ICF or poured concreteMasonry or non-combustible0%; no published Canadian discount
SIPsFrame; bring the CCMC report0%
Log or timber frameFrame, often a specialty market; higher repair cost+10% (our assumption)
Modular, once set on the foundationFrame; before the set it is cargo, not a building0% once set; transit cover is separate

Our planning numbers for a 9 to 12 month build by a licensed builder in a protected area with a $2,500 deductible are 0.5%, 0.9% and 1.5% of hard cost, inside the published range. On a $700,000 ICF or wood-frame house that is $3,500, $6,300 or $10,500; the top of the published range, 4%, is $28,000 on the same house, a published ceiling and not our estimate. November 2026, before the 8% Ontario retail sales tax on most property premiums.

Why insurance prices are all over the map: the brokerages, insurer guides and lenders we checked did not agree. An Ontario and Quebec brokerage and a Canadian renovation marketplace said 0.5% to 1% of hard cost; two Ontario brokerages and a Canadian comparison site ran from 1% up to 4%; a US personal-finance site said 1% to 5%. On a $500,000 house that is $2,500 at one end and $20,000 at the other. The gap is percent of hard cost against a flat minimum, the term, the deductible, construction type, fire grading, and whether soft costs and liability are in or out. Budget about 1% of hard cost, about $4,500 on a $500,000 house, and get two or three quotes on the same written description.

Log Homes: Fewer Insurers, a Rebuild-Cost Argument and a Wood Stove

A log house is the one system here that really does change the insurance. A Canadian insurer’s guide says log homes are more expensive to insure because they cost more to repair when damaged. In our experience fewer companies want them at all, so the broker is shopping a smaller market. The rebuild number is where the argument happens: the broker’s software estimates a frame house per square foot, and a log wall is specialty material and labour from one supplier. Get a written rebuild estimate from the log supplier or your builder before the software decides for you. Nobody publishes a log surcharge; the 10% in our table is our assumption.

The rest of a log premium is rural, not log: the fire hall distance and grade, oil heat, and a wood stove that needs a WETT inspection before most insurers will cover it. The log homes page covers the building side.

SIPs: Nothing Special to an Insurer, So Do Not Let Anyone Make It Special

Structural insulated panels are rated as frame construction, because that is what they are: OSB skins on a foam core, nailed to plates and headers like any stud wall. Bring the panel manufacturer’s CCMC evaluation report and the engineer’s drawings, and expect a frame premium. We have not found a Canadian insurer that charges more for SIPs, or less.

What is different is the delivery. The whole wall and roof package arrives on one or two trucks and sits on site until the crane and crew work through it. Bind the policy before the first truck is scheduled, and ask what the limit is for materials stored on site and in transit. The SIPs page and the framing and building systems section cover the systems themselves.

Modular and Prefab: Who Owns the Risk on the Truck and on the Crane

Until a module is set on your foundation and bolted down it is a product, not a building. On the highway it is cargo under the manufacturer’s or carrier’s transit policy; your builder’s risk usually picks it up from the set date. The handover is the crane day, and the crane day is exactly when a module gets dropped, racked or rained into.

  1. Get it in writing from the factory who insures the module in the plant, on the truck and in the air, and the day and hour your coverage takes over.
  2. Check the transit limit against the module value. A per-shipment cargo limit written for furniture does not replace two finished modules with the kitchen already in them.
  3. Tell the lender. A major bank’s solicitor instructions hold the final advance on a factory-built home until it is affixed to the foundation, so the draws and the insurance have to line up.
  4. If the factory fails before delivery, builder’s risk does not pay; that is a contract question. The modular permits and certification page covers what to look for.

Radiant Floors, Expensive Gear and Water During the Build

We put hydronic radiant floors in every house, so this comes up on every house. A PEX tube cut by a trade’s saw after the pour, a fitting that lets go and floods the basement over a weekend: that is a sudden release of water from inside the building, and a builder’s risk policy generally covers it, subject to a deductible that is often higher for water than for fire. Slow seepage, or a loop that was never pressure-tested is faulty workmanship, and faulty workmanship is excluded. A 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision on an all-risk policy drew the line: the insurer does not pay to redo the bad work, but it generally pays for the resulting damage.

So the floor is protected by paperwork as much as by the policy. Pressure-test every loop before the pour, keep the record, photograph the tubing with the manifold in frame, and leave the system under test pressure through the pour.

The same thinking applies to anything expensive that goes in early: windows, a heat pump, a solar array. Once on site they are materials for the building and the standard perils apply, but check the on-site materials sublimit and the theft deductible. Mechanical breakdown and electrical arcing are excluded on most forms, and so is commissioning unless equipment breakdown cover is added; ask for in-transit and installation cover on a solar array by name. The builder’s risk page goes through every peril and exclusion, and the construction insurance hub covers who carries which policy.

We build houses and carry builder’s risk, liability and WSIB on every one of them; we do not sell insurance. The binding answer on any policy comes from a RIBO-licensed broker. This page is general information from a builder, not insurance, legal or tax advice; policies differ, and the one you sign wins. Confirm your situation with a RIBO-licensed broker and your lender.

Questions people ask

Does an ICF home cost less to insure?

Not that we can find in Canada, and we build them. Insurers rate ICF as masonry or non-combustible, the same class as block or poured concrete, and no Canadian insurer or broker we checked publishes an ICF discount. Rate the walls as masonry and budget on no discount.

Are ICF homes considered more fire-resistant by insurance companies?

The walls are rated as non-combustible, and that is as far as it goes. The premium is driven by distance to a fire hall, a hydrant within about 300 metres, the roof, heating and claims history far more than by the walls, because the roof, floors, cabinets and contents of an ICF house burn like anyone else’s.

Are log homes more expensive to insure in Ontario?

Usually. A Canadian insurer’s guide says they are more expensive to insure because they cost more to repair, and in our experience fewer companies write them, so the broker is shopping a smaller market. Hand the broker a written rebuild estimate from the log supplier. Our planning assumption is 10% over a frame premium.

Does builder’s risk insurance cover modular home transportation?

Usually not. On the road a module is cargo under the manufacturer’s or carrier’s transit policy; your builder’s risk typically takes over when the module is set on your foundation. Get the handover in writing and check the transit limit against the module value.

Does builder’s risk insurance cover solar panels during installation?

Once on site the panels are materials for the building, and fire, theft, wind and vandalism apply, subject to the on-site materials sublimit. Electrical arcing and mechanical breakdown are usually excluded, and so is commissioning unless equipment breakdown is added. Ask for in-transit and installation cover on the array by name.

Is radiant floor heating covered by construction insurance?

A sudden release of water from a cut or failed line is generally covered, with a water deductible that is often higher than the fire deductible. Slow seepage and a loop that was never tested are faulty workmanship and are excluded, though the resulting damage is generally covered. Pressure-test every loop before the pour and keep the record.

Price the house, not the wall system

The calculator rates ICF and concrete at no discount and log at our 10% assumption, and writes a quote request sheet you send to a broker of your own choosing.

Estimate my premiumBack to the insurance hub

Sources and further reading