Is ten-year building insurance mandatory in Lebanon, and who is liable for defects?

Also asked as: “Is ten-year structural insurance mandatory for buildings in Lebanon?” · “Decennial insurance in Lebanon” · “Law 646 collapse insurance” · “Who pays if a new building in Lebanon has structural defects?”

What Law 646/2004 says#

Article 18 of the Building Law creates an insurance against the building collapsing, in whole or in part. It is applied gradually to buildings that must go through a mandatory technical audit^[1]. The cover runs 10 years from the technical auditor's final report, meaning the report that says the building was finished without essential reservations.

The law leaves the list of covered projects to a Council of Ministers decree^[1]. We did not find that decree. So we cannot tell you whether the insurance is compulsory for any building today, which buildings it would cover, or whether Lebanese insurers sell this cover at all. The Order of Engineers, the Directorate General of Urban Planning (DGU), an insurer or a construction lawyer can tell you where things stand.

Who is responsible for a building's soundness#

The law we read puts a clear duty on the owner. The owner must keep the building maintained, stable and sound, and when needed, or when the municipality asks on technical advice, must have one or more engineers inspect it and write a detailed report^[1]. If stability is impaired, the owner must shore it up under an engineer's supervision and notify the municipality (or the governor or caimacam outside municipal areas) before permanent strengthening. If a building threatens to collapse and the owner does nothing, it must be demolished within 15 days to 2 months (1 day if extremely urgent), and the municipality may evacuate the occupants.

Our sources do not say what a contractor, engineer or developer owes you if defects appear after you buy. Lebanese law may have a rule on this, but we have not sourced it, so we do not state it here. A construction lawyer can tell you who is liable, for how long, and what to write into your contract before you sign. On a new project, also read how to check a developer.

Technical audit and public safety#

Law 646 ties the collapse insurance to mandatory technical audit^[1]. That is all our sources say about how the insurance and the audit connect.

A separate point concerns building safety in general. A 2023 Beirut Arab University law study, of which we read only the abstract, says the 2012 public safety decree for buildings relies on accredited technical audit offices, and that the authorities split the offices' work into 3 mandatory conditions, 12 optional tasks^[2]. The same study says that laws settling building violations weakened safety control, and it recommends that municipalities scrutinise audit reports. We have not seen the decree itself, so we cannot say how it relates to the insurance.

What ordinary home insurance does and does not cover#

Kallas Law Firm says Lebanese fire insurance covers only material damage caused directly by fire^[3]. It also says this insurance does not cover fire caused by earthquakes, volcanoes or storms. An-Nahar reported in March 2026 that a standard Lebanese policy it reviewed carries a clause excluding war damage; wording varies by insurer, so check your own policy^[4,5]. More in whether home insurance covers war damage.