Consider a multi-story office building that falls less than a year after it opens. Think about the ensuing legal battles. The relatives of those who were killed would file suit against the majority of the companies responsible for the building’s construction. This would more than likely include entities or people like the owner of the building, the construction company hired to build the project, subcontractors hired for specific tasks, the architects behind the building and many others. It doesn’t end there. The owner would likely sue anyone hired in the construction after paying out millions already to people close to those who died. Then, tenants would launch a lawsuit to recoup damages caused by the loss of equipment and belongings inside the collapsed building. Some of the nearby building owners would file a lawsuit for property damage caused by the fall of the structure… and so on.
To sum things up, irresponsible construction may result in a variety of lawsuits involving a range of people involved. Lawsuits can emerge from issues much less serious than a building falling too. Here, we will look into different kinds of negligent construction cases and cover the fundamentals of each.
Two of the main lawsuits stem from property damage and personal injury.
Property Damage Lawsuits Caused by Negligent Construction
A variety of contracts generally regulate almost every building project. These contracts spell out the roles and obligations of all project participants. As a result, if anything goes wrong — for example, if a contractor abandons the job after finishing just half of his tasks — contract law may be used to assess culpability. In this situation, the contractor will very certainly be held accountable for failing to meet the conditions of the contract.
Construction projects, on the other hand, are usually done by experts, who are subject to particular “standards of care.” Due to this, regardless of the wording used in the project’s contracts, they may be held accountable for any injury caused by their failure to execute their tasks correctly.
This means that, depending on the contracts involved and the nature of the fault, any party engaged in a building project may be accountable for any flaw. More legal difficulties may arise as a result of construction faults, but we cannot go over all of them. These are some of the most important concerns that construction defect litigants should think about:
– Is there a clause in the contracts that assigns responsibility or provides for indemnification?
– What would the cost of repairing the flaw be?
– What would be the decreased value of the finished job if the flaw was not corrected?
– Was the shortcoming the consequence of a faulty plan like an engineer’s error, or a bad execution?
– Is there a risk of injury as a result of the flaw?
Personal Injury Lawsuits Caused by Negligent Construction
Construction is a hazardous occupation. Workers are required to conduct strenuous physical tasks, which may include working at considerable heights or utilizing heavy machines. There seems to be a limitless number of things that may go wrong. In the U.S., more than 750 construction workers died as a result of work-related injuries in 2010. Every year, construction has a higher rate of work-related injuries than nearly any other business.
For anyone injured, there is a construction accident lawyer Trenton, New Jersey or construction accident lawyer in Jersey City to talk to who can help present your case.
Both employees and non-employees may be injured during construction. The following are some of the most important questions to ask in situations involving both kinds of injury.
Injuries to Construction Workers
– Do the laws of workers’ compensation apply?
– Who was in charge of the construction site’s safety?
– Are there any industry rules, such as OSHA regulations, that have been broken?
– Was the injury a one-time occurrence, such as an electrocution, or did it build over time (for example, back discomfort from heavy lifting on a daily basis)?
– Is the employer aware of the injury?
– Is there any safety equipment provided by the company to assist avoid this sort of injury?
– Was there any safety equipment on hand?
– Was this sort of injury covered by the employer’s safety training?
– Have there been any other employees at the building site who have been hurt in the same way?
Injuries to non-workers
– Was the individual who was hurt a driver?
– Was the individual who was hurt a child?
– When the injury happened, where was the person?
– What kind of warning signs were there near or at the scene of the accident?
– Was the individual who was hurt aware of the construction?
– Who was in charge of putting up proper warnings?
– Was the injury sustained before or after the building was completed?
– Are there any industry norms that have been broken?
– Was there a clear and immediate danger?