In November 2025, a New South Wales Court of Appeals found that, because the insured “buildings” associated with a petrol station included storage tanks and other “structural improvements” pertaining to the buildings, the underground pipes which connected the petrol storage tanks to the bowsers were part of the insured buildings. Damage to the pipes was therefore covered by the business insurance policy.

The policy insured buildings up to $500 000. The definition of “buildings” included a list of 10 items of description including storage tanks and a list of items not included such as plant and machinery, stock, and contents.

The court found that:

• Stating that the defined term “includes” a list of items which were plainly not intended to be exhaustive, it would be usual to treat the defined term as capturing “buildings” as ordinarily understood.
• Having regard to the surrounding circumstances that the standard wording of the policy insured a petrol station and intended to apply to a wide range of circumstances, those circumstances included insurance of a service station.
• One of the functions of the definition was to draw a distinction between buildings in the sense of improvements on land and the contents of buildings which are usually insured separately.
• The numbered lists were not exclusive categories.

Against that background, the pipes connecting the tanks to the bowsers fell within the definition of buildings. There was nothing in the definition to suggest that it only covered improvements above ground. The definition covered foundations, swimming pools and storage tanks which are usually beneath ground. The ordinary meaning of “building” would cover the basement of a building which is by its nature underground. The pipes fell within the description of “other structural improvements pertaining to the buildings”. “Structural” in this sense should be understood to mean any improvement that is a structure. The pipes, or fuel lines, fell within that description and pertained to the petrol storage tanks.

Whilst it is surprising that this issue reached an appeal court, the lower court had found that the pipes were not part of the building. In South Africa, any insurer insuring the buildings of a petrol station will expect to provide cover for everything that goes with the total structure.

Tanwar Institution for Professional Studies as Trustees for Tanwar Family Trust v Gordian Runoff Limited [2025] NSWCA 247