Single Employer Site Safety Liability: GC Found Responsible for Acts of its Subcontractor

OSHA fined a general contractor (GC) for violations committed by its subcontractor related to an accident at a construction worksite where two roofers fell over twenty feet and sustained serious injuries when a spruce board used for scaffolding snapped in half. OSHA...

Suit Dismissed with Prejudice because Certificate of Merit not filed with Complaint

A crane operator that sustained injuries when his crane tipped over filed a professional negligence claim against an engineering firm. The complaint was filed two days before the running of the statute of limitations and failed to include a certificate of merit that...

CM/General Contractor, as a Statutory Employer, is Entitled to Workers’ Compensation Act Immunity from Suit by Subcontractor’s Injured Employee

When a subcontractor employee was injured by being struck by pieces of concrete that unexpectedly shot out of a concrete pumping hose, he sued the project construction manager (CM) who had subcontracted the concrete work. Tutor Perini was serving as CM at risk and...

Construction Manager not Responsible for Injuries to a Contractor’s Employee where it had no Ability to Control the Contractor’s Activity

Construction management services agreement between the Construction Manager (CM) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York provided that the CM was responsible for coordinating the work relating to the number 7 train subway extension project on...

Building Code Requirements Imposed Non-Delegable Duty on General Contractor for Safety Guardrails

A general contractor for home construction hired a subcontractor to perform trim work on a house, including installation of a guardrail in front of a sliding glass door that would have access to a potential future deck. The subcontractor used finish nails to attach...

Common-Enterprise Defense Prevents Employee that Recovered Workers Compensation from also Recovering from Other Contractor

An employee of a general contractor was electrocuted while working alongside employees of a subcontractor to move sections of pipe culvert in a streambed. This apparently occurred because a crane being operated by the subcontractor contacted an electrical wire. His...

Architect/Design-Builder Responsible for Construction Subcontractor’s Site Safety

On a design-build project where an architect held the prime contract under DBIA forms 530 and 535, it was liable for overall site safety – including that which it had by subcontract expressly delegated to its construction subcontractor.   Because the language of the...

Prime Contractor not Liable for Injuries of Subcontractor’s Employee where Prime Retained no Control of Individual’s Work

By Kent Holland An employee of an independent contractor cannot generally recover damages from the one who hired the contractor for work-related injuries. One exception to this rule is where the hirer actually retained control of the work or otherwise caused or...

Public Nuisance Suit against A/E Liable for Failing to Design Protective Fencing for a Retaining Wall Dismissed

A man who fell from a retaining wall at a streetscape project being built for a city filed suit against the city as well as the architect (BL Companies, Inc.) for the project. The legal theory against the architect was that he had created a public nuisance by failing...

Scaffolding Collapse: Engineer, Architect, and Project Owner Not Liable for Injuries

J. Kent Holland, J.D. ConstructionRisk, LLC Summary judgment was granted and sustained on appeal for all defendants in this case where three employees of a contractor were injured when scaffolding failed under the weight of a concrete slab that was being poured. The...