FOR Refinery owners, turnaround leaders and plant risk managers
Treat the outage as a changing risk period
A planned refinery shutdown concentrates work that normally occurs across many months. Equipment is opened, contractors overlap, temporary utilities are introduced and operating protections may be taken out of service. The owner’s insurance review should track these changes by work area and date rather than assume the ordinary operating description remains sufficient throughout the outage.
Separate routine maintenance from capital replacement, capacity expansion and major modification. Different policies may apply to the existing plant, newly installed property and contractor equipment. A project value schedule should identify which assets remain under the operating program and which are intended to move into construction or installation protection.
Allocate interfaces before crews mobilize
A shutdown can involve the owner, an EPC manager, multiple specialist contractors and separate testing firms. Assign responsibility for isolation, permits, lifting, temporary power, fire protection impairments and emergency response. Where U.S. process safety management applies, the operator and contractors have relevant duties within that framework; a contract does not eliminate statutory obligations.
Review insurance requirements against the actual division of work. Determine whether a controlled insurance program exists, who is enrolled and what remains outside it. Certificates are only one part of the record. Obtain the necessary endorsements and examine exclusions affecting pollution, professional services, existing property and completed operations before accepting contractual assurances as adequate protection.
Distinguish planned outage cost from insured delay
An illustrative fire during maintenance damages an adjacent unit and extends the shutdown. The owner must distinguish the original planned outage from the additional period attributable to the damage. Business interruption analysis may require a comparison with the production that would have occurred without the incident, including scheduled maintenance and other concurrent delays.
Review property damage triggers, testing and commissioning provisions, deductibles, waiting periods and the period used to measure recovery. Contractor delay penalties and lost production are not automatically the same insured loss. Ask how expedited repairs, temporary equipment and extended contractor mobilization costs would be evaluated and what insurer involvement is required before incurring major mitigation expenditure.
Make restart a documented handover
Before startup, reconcile completed work, inspection findings, temporary modifications and unresolved defects. Applicable process-safety requirements and engineering approvals must be addressed by responsible specialists. The insurance team needs accurate dates for testing, acceptance, beneficial use and transfer from project coverage to operating policies. A contract milestone should not be assumed to match an insurance attachment or termination provision.
Retain the baseline schedule, critical path changes, daily progress records, impairment notices and acceptance documents. Update values for replacement equipment and remove obsolete items deliberately. After the outage, review near misses and unresolved claims while technical records are still accessible, so the next shutdown submission reflects actual lessons rather than repeating the previous year’s assumptions.
Operational exposures & coverage review
These review points are educational interpretation, not promises of insurance coverage.
| Exposure | Insurance review |
|---|---|
| Temporary impairments | Coordinate notifications and protection arrangements. |
| Extended shutdown | Separate planned downtime from damage-related delay. |
| Restart handover | Align acceptance and insurance transition dates. |
Questions for your next review
- Which work belongs under project rather than operating coverage?
- Who is responsible for uninsured contractor interfaces?
- Can the original outage schedule support a later delay analysis?
Related Montridge webinars
Contract risks at multi-contractor shutdown interfaces.
EPC, contracts and commercial coverage
EPC Contract Risk Management: 10 Biggest Contract Risks
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Bring the operational details above into a coordinated review of your contracts, loss history and actual policy wording. Explore Montridge energy services insurance services for the related brokerage service.
Source references
Primary-source background informs the technical discussion. Insurance review questions are educational interpretation; a source link does not establish coverage or certify compliance.
U.S. OSHA process-safety requirements have defined applicability and include contractor, change-management and pre-startup provisions.
Scope: United States federal guidance · Source reviewed 2026-11-01
OSHA refinery guidance identifies catalyst-handling fire/exposure hazards and process-equipment interfaces.
Scope: United States federal guidance · Source reviewed 2026-11-01
Prepared November 1, 2026. Confirm current requirements and their application to your work before relying on them. Specific insurance outcomes require review of the complete policy and endorsements.