Insurers are coming back into high-rise apartment construction, and the first developer is likely to take out a defects liability insurance policy in coming weeks, as a result of NSW building regulation reforms that have tightened up standards and made risks more transparent.

The new product, which will cover defects such as waterproofing and structural faults for the first 10 years after completion, is an alternative to the “strata bond” – worth 2 per cent of a building’s construction cost – developers currently lodge with NSW Fair Trading for two years.