Contractor negligence causing injury to person is something to consider as remodeling projects come with the spring weather.
First, recall that a person is negligent when he fails to exercise ordinary care. Ordinary care is the care which a reasonable person would use in similar circumstances. A person is not using ordinary care and is negligent, if the person, without intending to do harm, does something (or fails to do something) that a reasonable person would recognize as creating an unreasonable risk of injury or damage to a person or property.
When a general contractor sublets all or a part of a contract to a subcontractor, the general contractor has a duty not to commit an affirmative act, which would increase the risk of injury to an employee of the subcontractor. An affirmative act is an act of commission that is, something that one does as opposed to an act of omission, which is something one fails to do.
A building contractor has a duty to exercise ordinary care in the construction or remodeling of a building. This duty requires such contractor to perform work with the same degree of care and skill and to provide such suitable materials as are used and provided by contractors of reasonable prudence, skill, and judgment in similar construction.
Generally, an owner or principal contractor is not responsible to a third person for the negligence of an independent contractor. However, an owner or a principal contractor must exercise ordinary care to prevent injury to third persons or damage to their property if the work to be done is inherently dangerous or a contract between the owner or principal contractor and the third person requires that the owner or principal contractor will take ordinary care to prevent injury to the third person or property or to secure the proper performance of the work. Ordinary care is that degree of care which you would expect a reasonable person to use under the same or similar circumstances.
Safe place duty requires that an owner, or possibly a general contractor, maintain the premises in as safe a manner as safe as the nature of the place would reasonably permit. Before a person has a duty to furnish a safe place of employment, the person must have the right to present control over the place so that the person can perform the duty to furnish a safe place of employment. This control of the premises need not be exclusive, nor is it necessary to have control for all purposes in order to impose a duty to furnish a safe place of employment.
McCormick Law Office attorneys in Milwaukee, Wisconsin make negligence and safe place claims. Believe in better.
