Are You Liable If Somebody Gets Hurt While Working On Your Property?

Many homeowners believe that they cannot be held responsible for injuries suffered by contractors working on their property. In California, if someone gets injured while working on your property, you can be held liable for their injuries and damages.

If Someone Gets Hurt While Working on Your Property Are You LiableDepending on the severity of the contractorโ€™s injury and the circumstances of the accident, the resulting damages could amount to thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. While there are steps you can take as a homeowner to reduce the risk of lawsuits by contractors who get injured while working in your house, you need to understand how premises liability works when you hire someone to work on your property.

As a homeowner who hires a contractor to work in your house, you will either exercise control or not exercise control over the work progress. In both of these scenarios, you may be held liable for injuries suffered by contractors.

Consult with a premises liability attorney if a contractor sustained injuries while making home renovations or doing any other kind of work on your property. Our injury lawyers at Arash Law will help you understand your rights and legal options as a homeowner in California.

If Someone Gets Hurt While Working On Your Property, Are You Liable?

As a homeowner in California, you owe a duty of care to the people you invite onto your property, including contractors and workers who make renovations, care for your children, repair broken things in your house, clean your house, maintain your front and backyard, and do other types of work on your property.

People who may get hurt while working on your property include:

  • Housekeepers
  • Handymen
  • Repairmen
  • Plumbers
  • Electricians
  • Babysitters
  • Landscapers
  • Gardeners
  • Contractors

Whether or not you can be liable if someone is injured while working on your property depends on the circumstances of your particular case and the amount of control you exercise over the contractorโ€™s project. It is advisable to consult with a knowledgeable attorney to discuss liability in your particular situation. Speak with our award-winning attorneys at Arash Law to discuss your case. Call (888) 488-1391.

Liability for Contractorsโ€™ Injuries If a Homeowner Does Not Exercise Control

Many homeowners choose this strategy because they trust that their contractors will do their job well. Basically, you exercise no control over the renovations on your property once you hire a contractor, negotiate the price, and sign a contract. Since you have a written contract with the contractor, you assume that they will fulfill their duties and finish work on time. If the contract is breached, you could sue the contractor for damages.

When you do not exercise control over the project, you cannot be held responsible for the contractorโ€™s safety on your property at all times because you do not control how they perform their duties. Once you hire a contractor and sign a contract, the contractor will assume that you have provided a safe environment for them to work unless you have warned them of hidden dangers on your property. However, this may not apply in certain scenarios, such as scaffolding accidents. In most cases, scaffolding is designed and installed by contractors, who are generally responsible for ensuring the structure is safe and compliant with applicable occupational health and safety regulations to avoid construction accidents.

However, if a contractor gets hurt because of unsafe conditions that you failed to warn about, you can be sued and held liable for the contractorโ€™s injury. For this reason, even if you do not exercise control over the work done on your property, you should warn workers about any hidden and non-obvious hazards on your property.

If you fail to take reasonable steps to repair, inspect, and warn of hidden dangers on your property, and a contractor is injured due to the dangerous condition while working on your property, you can be sued for failing to exercise due care. The closer you monitor how a contractor does their job while working on your property, the more likely you are to be held liable for the contractorโ€™s injuries.

Liability for Contractorsโ€™ Injuries If a Homeowner Exercises Control

person is injured while working

If you think that exercising control over the contractorโ€™s duties can reduce your liability, think again. Choosing to closely monitor what your contractors are doing can expose you to more liability for contractorsโ€™ injuries. If you choose to exercise control over a project, the contractor may assume that you are taking responsibility for their safety on your property.

Thus, if you give instructions to contractors working on your property, you may be assuming responsibility for their safety, and when someone gets hurt, you could be held liable for the damages. In fact, choosing not to exercise control over the work performed in your home can actually reduce your liability as a homeowner.

That is because your contractors will identify and control hazards that arise as part of their duties on their own. In that case, your only responsibility will be to warn contractors of hidden hazards on your property. When you do not exercise control, you are still required to provide a reasonably safe environment for the contractors. In these situations, workers often consult work injury lawyers for guidance and support.

Can a Homeowner Be Liable for Trespassersโ€™ Injuries on Their Property?

Previously, under California law, it was the responsibility of a property owner or landlord to provide and maintain safe premises for their guests and invitees. In legalese, an invitee is an individual who was invited by the owner or landlord onto the property. Invitees include guests, friends, family members, and other people who were invited onto the property directly or implicitly.

California law requires property owners to conduct regular inspections of their property and eliminate any potentially dangerous conditions to avoid causing harm to invitees. But what about liability for trespassersโ€™ injuries? Can you be held liable for injuries suffered by people who enter your property illegally? While trespassing is illegal under California Penal Code 602, trespassers may still be able to sue property owners for injuries.

Contrary to popular belief, a property owner can be held responsible for trespassersโ€™ injuries if any of the following is true:

  • The premises were not safe.
  • The premises were not clearly marked (e.g., there is no fencing).
  • The premises is considered an โ€œattractive nuisanceโ€ (the property has attractive conditions that could be enticing to children).

Unlike other states, California no longer has an โ€œattractive nuisanceโ€ doctrine.

Do You Owe a Duty of Care to People Working on Your Property?

Yes, homeowners owe a duty of care to people they hire to work on their property. Any individual who enters your property for your benefit is considered an invitee. Under Californiaโ€™s premises liability law, property owners owe the highest level of care to invitees.

Duties of care to invitees, including workers on your property, include:

  • Inspecting the property to search for hidden hazards
  • Repairing known hazards within a reasonable amount of time
  • Not engaging in any wanton or willful conduct with the intent to cause injuries
  • Warning invitees, including contractors workers on the property, of existing hazards that may not be immediately clear or obvious

If you fail to fulfill any of these duties and a contractor gets hurt while working on your property, you could be liable for their resulting damages and losses. However, in order to sue you for the damages, the worker will have to establish the following elements:

  • You knew or should have known about the hazard.
  • The hazard caused the workerโ€™s injury.
  • You failed to take reasonable steps to eliminate or remedy the hazard.

If someone got injured while working on your property, do not hesitate to contact our attorneys at Arash Law. Our lawyers will review your particular situation and help you understand your options.

Will Your Homeownerโ€™s Insurance Cover the Injured Workerโ€™s Damages?

If you are liable for a contractorโ€™s injury on your property, your homeownerโ€™s insurance will most likely cover some of the damages. If you have Med-Pay coverage or liability insurance, it may cover the injured workerโ€™s damages and protect you from a liability lawsuit. Generally, a homeownerโ€™s insurance policy covers any injuries that occur on your property, including injuries to contractors and other people who work on your property.

The only exception to coverage is if there is evidence that you failed to exercise due care to prevent the accident. If you were negligent or careless, the injured worker might file a lawsuit against you to seek compensation for their damages. Alternatively, if they are employed by a company, they may also file for a workersโ€™ compensation claim as long as they are working within the scope of their employment.

What Damages Are Available When Someone Gets Hurt While Working on Your Property?

In legalese, the word โ€œdamagesโ€ refers to monetary and non-monetary losses incurred by someone as a result of another partyโ€™s negligence. When a person is injured while working on someone elseโ€™s property or otherwise being legally on the property, they may be eligible to recover:

Letโ€™s talk about the three categories of damages in detail.

Economic Damages

As their name implies, economic damages are designed to compensate the injured party for their monetary losses. With economic damages, you can easily assign a dollar value to the losses. These damages include:

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are more subjective than economic ones. These damages are not easy to calculate, which is why an injured party may need a lawyer to help them put a dollar value on such damages as:

The amount of economic and non-economic damages often depends on how serious the injuries are. For example, head injuries in construction accidents can lead to long hospital stays and lengthy recovery times. In these cases, head injury attorneys consider how the injury affects the personโ€™s physical health, career, and overall quality of life.

Punitive Damages

While this type of damages is extremely rare in premises liability cases in California, it does not change the fact that these damages may be available when a person gets hurt on someone elseโ€™s property. For example, if there is deliberate intent to cause a construction accident, the liable party may also be required to pay punitive damages. Under California law, punitive damages, which are intended to punish the defendant for their harmful conduct, are awarded when there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant engaged in oppressive, fraudulent, or malicious conduct (California Civil Jury Instructions No. 3947). A construction accident lawyer can assist in collecting the necessary evidence to establish grounds for punitive damages.

If the incident on the property ultimately results in death, the victimโ€™s eligible family members may have grounds to file a wrongful death claim.

How to Shield Yourself From Liability for Contractorsโ€™ Injuries on Your Property

As a homeowner who hires contractors to perform work on your property, you can take certain steps to shield yourself from liability for possible injuries. However, it is important to note that you may not be able to shield yourself from liability for all injuries. If you are a homeowner hiring a contractor to make renovations or perform other types of work on your property, take the following steps to reduce your liability for injuries on your property:

  • Warn contractors of all hidden and non-obvious hazards on your property before they begin working on the project.
  • Hire only licensed contractors.
  • Confirm the extent of your contractorsโ€™ insurance coverage before hiring them.
  • Check if you have additional protections under your own homeownersโ€™ insurance policy when hiring licensed contractors.
  • Consult with an experienced attorney to find out how you can protect yourself from liability for contractorsโ€™ injuries on your property.

Our California-based premises liability lawyers at Arash Law are prepared to help you protect your rights if you are a homeowner who hires people to perform any kind of work on your property. Call (888) 488-1391 or complete this contact form to see if you have a case, with our record-setting California injury attorneys.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arash Khorsandi, ESQ
Founder, Arash Law

Arash Khorsandi, Esq. is the owner and founder of Arash Law, a large injuries and accidents law firm with offices throughout California. Over the years, Arash has built an all-star team of record-breaking lawyers, former insurance company adjusters, and the best paralegal staff in the country in order to ensure that his client’s cases result in the best possible outcome. In fact, our California personal injury law firm has won countless awards and distinctions in the field of plaintiffs Personal Injury law.

Recover Lost Wages, Property Damages, and Medical Fees.
Arash Law Practice Area Border/Divider

We’ll tell you if you have a case or not, callย (888) 488-1391 โ€” We’re here 24 hours a day.

DISCLAIMER: Information provided on this blog is not formal legal advice. It is generic legal information. Under no circumstances should the information on this page be relied upon when deciding the proper course of a legal action. Always obtain a free and confidential case evaluation from a reputable attorney near you if you think you might have a personal injury lawsuit.

Check More From Our Award-Winning Law Firm
Liability for injuries at Coachella can fall on several parties, including the festival organizers, property owners, security companies, and third-party vendors, depending on the situation. If your injury resulted from negligence, such as poor crowd control, inadequate security, or unsafe...

Table of Contents Millions of Californians visit beauty salons and day spas every month for hair care, nail treatments, and facials. Unfortunately, negligence at the hands of beauty salons and their employees can lead to unpleasant injuries that donโ€™t just...

Schedule Your Consultation with Arash
or call him directly at (213) 805-7789
Arash Khorsandhi

Thank You, We’ll contact you shortly.

IF YES, You may be able to recover financial compensation. TELL US MORE:
Do-You-Have-A-Case-mobile
IF YES, You may be able to recover financial compensation. TELL US MORE: