Resilient Data Centers: A 360° Approach to Managing Risk from Construction to Ongoing Operations

Data center construction carries far greater underwriting risk than standard commercial projects due to the extreme electrical complexity, phased energization exposing workers to live power, and the need for advanced isolation controls. Precision cooling systems introduce condensation and humidity risks that can lead to corrosion and defect claims.

These projects often exceed $1B and are delivered under intensely compressed schedules where speed rivals cost as the owner’s top priority. It is common to see $100M of work placed in a single month with workforces exceeding 2,000 tradespeople.

This relentless pace forces overlapping trades, accelerates commissioning, and increases the likelihood of errors in highly engineered systems. Combined with delegated design and phased turnover, the compressed timeline amplifies quality control failures, latent defect exposure, and catastrophic risk far beyond what is seen in factory builds.

Apart from construction, supply chain issues, raw material scarcity, shipping bottlenecks, geopolitical risks, and skilled labor shortages are just some of the additional factors that add complexity to data center construction and operation.

Reframing Risk

Risk engineers play a critical role in data center projects by reframing risk for construction managers, risk managers, and brokers. These projects are often misunderstood as simple warehouse builds, but in reality, they resemble highly complex systems—closer to submarines than warehouses. Electrical hazards are severe and frequently underestimated, especially with large, transient workforces.

Zurich Resilience Solutions’ risk engineers bring deep expertise in the true risk drivers of these projects: electrical safety, energy isolation, ground disturbance, moisture control, and water infiltration. They identify these exposures and help manage controls at the field level. Importantly, our engineers are involved from the earliest prospecting stage, evaluating not just what’s on paper but how owners and contractors plan to control risk in practice. This means examining their processes, workforce strategies, and safety programs to validate execution capability before binding coverage.

Zurich’s real differentiator, however, is data: each visit generates extensive insights that allow us to benchmark performance and provide fact-based guidance rather than intuition, helping clients and brokers make informed decisions.

Breadth of Solutions and Proven Capability

Zurich wins data center projects because of our unmatched expertise and breadth of solutions. With over 20 years of experience underwriting and managing these complex risks, Zurich brings deep technical knowledge and proven capability.

Our specialized energy risk engineering expertise adds significant value in evaluating critical exposures. What sets us apart is our ability to deliver a single integrated solution: Builders Risk, Property, GL (operational), Wrap, Professional, Pollution, and Excess placements—all under one roof.

Beyond coverage, we differentiate through our risk engineering strength: 100+ dedicated construction risk engineers across the country --no generalists, supported by a broader team of engineers, each with an average of 26 years of experience working across industries and hazards and all with backgrounds in industries they now serve -- who use our proprietary risk factor grading system to identify exposures and develop targeted Risk Improvement Actions (RIA).

These insights are powered by Zurich’s extensive data lake, enabling advanced trending and benchmarking across owners, contractors, and even individual trades. This data-driven approach transforms raw observations into actionable intelligence, helping clients understand how their performance compares to peers and where improvements will deliver the greatest impact.

Proven Expertise

• 20+ years underwriting complex data center risks
• Over $350 billion insured in data center projects to date, with risk engineers providing mitigation and advisory services from the earliest planning

Integrated 360° Risk Advisory Capability

• Risk engineering specialists across Construction, Energy, Machinery and Equipment, Property, Supply Chain, Business Continuity, Extreme Weather, Cyber provide guidance on critical energy exposures
• Deep technical knowledge and industry credibility

Specialized Energy Capability

• Risk engineering specialists provide guidance on critical energy exposures

Integrated Coverage Solution

• One-stop placement for Builders Risk, Property, GL (operational), Wrap, Professional, Pollution, and Excess

As data centers continue to evolve in size, complexity, and strategic importance, the risks they present will remain equally dynamic and multifaceted. Zurich’s integrated 360° approach empowers clients to stay ahead, combining deep sector expertise, comprehensive coverage solutions, and actionable insights derived from decades of experience. By working with Zurich Resilience Solutions, owners, contractors, and brokers gain a trusted advisor who not only understands the technical challenges but proactively helps manage them—enabling safer, more resilient outcomes.