Building Insurance

Protect your home’s permanent structure and fixtures with NRMA Building Insurance. From walls, floors and ceilings to in-built swimming pools, spas and sheds. Get Building Insurance to help cover you for fire, storm, flood and more².

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Make a claim

Track your claim

Renew your policy

Make a payment

Cover for temporary accommodation

We cover up to 12 months of temporary accommodation if your home becomes unliveable after a covered incident³.

Why Choose NRMA Building Insurance?

Somewhere to stay while we sort it out

If you can’t live in your home after an insured event, we can help cover up to 12 months of temporary accommodation³.

Building regulations

If your home is damaged or destroyed by an insured event, we'll help cover the reasonable cost to repair it in line with current building regulations.

Rebuilding costs

We help cover reasonable costs for architects, engineers and surveyors when rebuilding if your home is damaged by an insured event.

Want to save up to 10%?

Buy your Home Buildings Insurance online and we’ll automatically apply the discount. You’ll save up to 10% on your first year's premium⁸.

What is Building Insurance?

Building Insurance helps cover the cost to repair or rebuild the physical structure of your home and other permanent fixtures (like a shed or garage) if they’re damaged or destroyed by an insured event (such as a bushfire, flood, storm or leak)².

If it’s a building used primarily for residential use that has walls and a roof and can be locked up, we can help cover it.

Also included (limits apply) are such things as in-built swimming pools and spas, sheds, driveways, fences and gates, and more.

Under this policy, we won’t cover home contents, fixtures or structures installed by a tenant, commercial buildings, water vessels or common property.

You can customise your policy and add optional benefits to suit your needs when you get a quote.

Check the PDS for a complete and detailed list of coverage, with any limits and exclusions.

Insurance

What does Buildings Insurance cover?

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Included

Here’s a summary of what’s included, even if you forget to lock up

Fire
We cover loss and damage to your home caused by fire (including bushfire).
Damage from leaks
We cover damage to your home caused by liquid leaks, like water from a burst pipe or oil from a broken heater¹.
Rebuilding your home
We pay to repair or rebuild your home up to the insured amount if it’s damaged by a covered event.
Temporary accommodation
If your home can’t be lived in after a covered event, we pay for temporary accommodation³.
Lightning
We cover damage to your home and power surges caused by lightning.
Moving? Your new home's covered too
If you’re buying a new home in Australia, call us and we can cover it as soon as you sign the contract⁵.
Demolishing & removing debris
If your home is damaged by a covered event, we pay to demolish and remove the debris (up to 10% of the sum insured).
Theft & vandalism
We cover damage to your home from robbery and vandalism, including stolen house keys.
Flood, storm & storm surge
We cover loss or damage to your home caused by flood, rainwater run-off, storm, storm surge and tsunami².
Emergency repairs
If your home needs urgent repairs after an event we cover, we’re here 24/7 to help keep you safe.
Impact damage
We pay for damage to your home caused by impact from things like vehicles and trees⁴.
Liability for injury or damage
We cover your legal liability in some situations if someone's injured or their property's damaged at your home (up to $20m).
Landscaping
We cover your plants, trees, shrubs, or hedges that are growing in the ground if they are damaged in a covered event⁶.

Get our highest level of cover with an upgrade to Buildings Plus. Learn more about Buildings Plus, or read the PDS.

Not included

Carpets
We don't cover damage to carpets with Buildings Insurance, but they are covered with Contents Insurance.
Animal damage
We don’t cover damage by your animals, or animals you allow into your home.

Optional benefits

Choose from these optional benefits when you’re getting a quote

Accidental damage
Add cover for damage to your home from unintentional mishaps, like putting a hole in the wall while moving furniture.
Motor burnout
Add cover for electric motor burnout in fixtures and permanently fixed appliances like air con and dishwashers, including parts and labour⁷.

These benefits are automatically included if you upgrade to Buildings Plus. Learn more about Buildings Plus, or or read the PDS.

How to calculate your building sum insured

Your ‘Building sum insured’ is the amount your home is insured for (just the physical structure, not things like furniture, clothes and other belongings).

Each year your policy renews, your ‘Building’ sum insured is reviewed and may change due to a range of factors.

You can estimate the cost of rebuilding your home with our home building insurance calculator⁹. You’ll need to know such things as external wall material, roof material, the total living area (m²), number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and more.

Check the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and consider this coverage when determining your ‘Building’ sum insured.

What to expect if making a Building Insurance claim

Weather events and accidental damage often result in building insurance claims across Australia.

If you’ve lodged a claim, you’re probably wondering what happens next?

Read more about what to expect and the steps to settling your claim.

Cover	Building Plus	Building Standard
‘Accidental damage’ to a building structure such as a wall, ceiling or floor	Automatically included	Optional extra
Electrical motor burnout of a motor that is part of the permanent structure of your home⁷	Automatically included	Optional extra
Damage to a building as a result of severe weather such as flood, fire, earthquake, or storm²	Automatically included	Automatically included
Cover for temporary accommodation costs if your building is unliveable due to damage caused by an insured event³	Automatically included	Automatically included
Cover for reasonable costs when rebuilding to meet building regulations, professional fees, and removal of debris	Automatically included	Automatically included
‘Portable contents’ and ‘valuable contents’ such as jewellery, laptops and phones	Not included	Not included

Building Plus vs Building Standard

Building Plus includes everything in the Building Standard policy, plus a few extra benefits and some higher-value limits. The below table outlines some key differences. Check the PDS for a complete and detailed list.

Make sure to read our policy booklets

They’ll give you full details on limits, conditions, exclusions and more

Supplementary Product Disclosure Statement

Product Disclosure Statement

Target Market Determination

Premium, Excess & Discounts Guide

Key Facts Sheet

Important note for customers in NSW, QLD, TAS & ACT. If you purchased your policy before 21 April 2024 and you either haven't renewed it yet or you last renewed it before 1 July 2024, your cover will be different to the cover described above. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) relevant to your policy on our policy booklets page, or call us on 132 132 for more information.

Learn more about Home Buildings Insurance

Do you know how much it would cost to rebuild your home?

Use our buildings calculator

Save up to 10% on your first year when you get home insurance online⁸

Get a quote

Call us on 131 123 to make a claim 24/7

Learn about claims

FAQs

Building Insurance FAQs

Home Buildings Insurance (also called building insurance) is a type of Home Insurance that helps cover the cost to repair or rebuild the structure of your home if it's damaged or destroyed by an insured event. It also covers other buildings on your property like sheds or garages, as well as permanent fixtures like kitchen cabinets or light fittings in your home.

If you want to cover furniture or other belongings you keep in your home, check out Home Contents Insurance or our combined option, Home Buildings and Contents Insurance.

You can try our building calculator to get an idea of how much it might cost to rebuild your home. Remember that the calculator should only be used as a guide.

Building Plus includes all the inclusions of our Building Standard policy, plus some higher-value limits and extra features, including ‘Accidental damage’ and ‘Electrical motor burnout’ cover automatically included⁷.

Yes, but there are exceptions in both cases.

Driveways that provide access to domestic buildings are included, but not gravel driveways.

Fences are covered but they must be structurally sound (limits may apply). In the event of a storm, storm surge or tsunami, flood or rainwater run-off, gates, fences or free-standing walls are not covered if the loss or damage was caused because they were not structurally sound or well-maintained.

Home Buildings Insurance is different to Landlord Insurance. Home Buildings Insurance is generally for people who want to insure the property that they own and live in (also known as an owner-occupied home).

Landlord Insurance is for people who might want to insure a residential property that they own and rent out to tenants.

There are also other home insurance products for different types of properties, assets and arrangements. Explore Home Contents Insurance, Home Buildings and Contents Insurance, Residential Strata Insurance, Holiday Rental Insurance, Single Item Insurance and Contents Insurance for Renters.

We cover loss or damage caused by flood or rainwater run-off or storm², plus landslide or subsidence that happens within 72 hours of, and as a direct result of one of those insured events.

Some exclusions can apply, so check the PDS for all details.

Yes. You can get Building Insurance without Contents Insurance, and vice versa.

To get a quote, let us know how much you’d like to insure your home for. To get an idea of how much your building might be worth, try our calculator⁹.

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Existing customers

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Protect your property with NRMA Home Insurance

Home Contents Insurance

We offer cover for items in your home, even if you accidentally leave a window or door unlocked.

Get a quote

Learn more

Home Buildings and Contents Insurance

Protect your home inside and out with combined Buildings and Contents Insurance. Your buildings and items will be covered for a range of incidents.

Get a quote

Learn more

Residential Strata Insurance

Protect your strata building and common contents. We can cover damage or loss caused by storms, fires or accidental damage.

Call 132 132

Learn more

Renting your place for short stays and vacations on websites like Airbnb or Stayz?

Explore cover for your short-term rental property with ShareCover Holiday Rental Insurance

Check out Holiday Rental cover

Already with us?

Need help?

We’re here for you. Call us on 132 132.

Things you should know

We don’t cover damage caused by water leaking or escaping from a shower recess or shower base. We don’t cover loss from erosion or other earth movements. We don’t cover the costs to repair or replace the item that liquid leaked or escaped from.
We don’t cover actions of the sea, such as tides and waves. Check the PDS for a full list of exclusions. For insured properties in NSW, ACT or Tasmania, if we give you the option to remove cover for flood, rainwater run-off and storm surge from your Building Insurance and you choose to do so, you won’t be covered for loss or damage to your home caused by flood, rainwater run-off or storm surge.
If you own and live in your home, we cover the reasonable costs of temporary accommodation. As long as you were living in the damaged home permanently before the incident, we pay for accommodation for up to a year for the Home Buildings Standard policy (or up to two years if you have a Home Buildings Plus policy), or when your home is repaired or replaced (whichever is first). We pay your temporary accommodation costs up to 10% of your sum insured for Home Buildings Standard policies, and up to 20% for Home Buildings Plus. We need to be satisfied your home is unliveable and we need to agree to the cost before you make arrangements.
We don't cover loss or damage caused by tree cutting, lopping or felling, unless it was performed by a professional.
Your interest in the home is covered up to the amount of the deposit until the earliest of 90 days or when the contract settles or terminates. You are only covered if the vendor’s insurance does not provide cover.
We do not cover plants grown for commercial purposes, or for loss or damage to pot plants, lawn or soil washing away. We will pay up to $3,000 if you have ‘Plus’ cover, or $1,500 if you have ‘Standard’ cover.
We can cover electric motors for up to 15 years after they were made, provided they are not covered by a warranty, you do not use them for a business, trade or profession and they are kept at your home or site. We do not cover the cost to remove or install submerged or underground motors.
See the full details of the online discount. Any applicable discounts may be subject to minimum premiums. Discounts only apply until a minimum premium is reached. When we determine your premium on renewal, we may also limit any increases or decreases in your premium by considering factors such as your previous year's premium amount.
The Cordell Sum Sure Estimate is an estimate of the cost to rebuild the improvements on your property and is generated by the Cordell Sum Sure Calculator which uses available property attribute information (including information you input or confirm) and/or information collated by Cotality about the subject property (from insurers and other third party sources) and analyses them against construction industry data to statistically derive a rebuild estimate through a series of computer implemented algorithms (Cordell Sum Sure Estimate).

The Cordell Sum Sure Estimate does not take into account individual design features, site specific conditions, structural conditions and materials, local planning laws or any other regulations and may not be suitable for your particular circumstances. The Cordell Sum Sure Estimate is an indicative guide only and must not be relied upon as an accurate representation on the costs associated with rebuilding your property or in lieu or appropriate professional advice.

While Cotality uses commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the Cordell Sum Sure Estimate is current, Cotality does not warrant the accuracy, currency or completeness of the Cordell Sum Sure Estimate and to the full extent permitted by law excludes all loss or damage howsoever arising (including through negligence) in connection with the Cordell Sum Sure Estimate.

Building Insurance

Cover for temporary accommodation