How owners and buildings can protect themselves from lawsuits over renovation accidents
Herrick Real Estate partner, Andrew Freedland, was quoted by Brick Underground discussing apartment renovations in New York City and how they present a legal risk for condo and co-op boards. Under sections 240 and 241 of New York Labor Law, buildings can be held liable for certain types of worksite injuries even if they don’t directly supervise the work. That’s because the rule, dubbed the scaffold law, applies something called strict or absolute liability to co-ops and condos, as well as rentals.
"Condos and co-ops really need to know about this to make sure they have the right professionals to guide them so they’re not opening themselves up to unnecessary and avoidable liability," Andrew says.
When asked about strict liability, the article notes, "If an injury happens on an owner’s property, they are held liable for the accident, even if the injured person was partially at fault, Freedland says. There are exceptions, such as if the worker’s decision was the sole cause of the accident."
"If an injury happened on your property you’re liable for it," Andrew says. "There’s essentially no claim for the owner against the individual who is responsible for their portion of the negligence, whereas you would find that with other types of negligence."
For example, if someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, trips, and falls on a building's damaged stairs, a property owner would only be held responsible for a portion of the damage caused by the defective stairs, while the person would be held partially liable for their intoxication. But in renovation accidents covered under the scaffold law, "the property owner is completely liable for the injuries," Andrew says.
The scaffold law is intended to protect workers on risky job sites, and the article notes that properly insured contractors are a necessity.
Andrew notes, "In my practice, I know that when I have a building that's doing construction work – whether it’s a facade project, or a roof project, or the renovation of a lobby, any project – one of the early things that I say is, where’s the contractor’s insurance and is it being reviewed by your insurance broker to make sure its adequate?"