The NY Labor is very specific, and quite ownerous to both New York property owners, NY Developers, and NY General Contracting firms. We specifically reference NY because it’s only in NY where this onerous responsibility occurs. I won’t get into the specifics of the Labor Law.
This case was critical for a myriad of reasons. There are a lot of construction projects in New York City that are insured under a project-specific general liability insurance policy OR are covered under a Wrap Insurance Program, (Owners Contractors Insurance Program) where there is a clear demarkation line geographically where coverage ceases and begins unlike a “Practice Policy” which insures the general contractor wherever he is working and is not specific to a project. An appellate division victory affirming the right of an employee of a “vendor” which typically does not have the same stringent coverage obligations as will your sub contractors pose a difficult task to insure risk transfer away from the NY Developer, NY General Contracting Firm, or NY Project owner.
Some Risk Management Tips To Mitigate This New Exposure:
- Broaden the language in your contracts that impose defense and indemnification for both sub contractors & vendors/suppliers.
Include language defense & indemnity language within your purchase orders that you may lean on if this type of event happens on your project.
Broaden the language or defintions within the NY Project Specific Liability Policy that widens the coverage zone. (This is a frequent mistake by the NY Insurance Brokerage Community in that they take the geographic limitation of 50 feet the carrier intially offers and fail to negotiate a larger coverage zone).
Buy your supplies from reputable suppliers who have strong safety track records and a strong insurance program such as Casa Building Supplies . (Pardon this unabashed plug: under full disclosure, Jack Dragone is a good personal friend of mine, and I like his employer.)
To find out other startegic ways to reduce the high cost of insurance claims to your New York Construction business or information about New York General Liability Insurance and New York Workers Comp Insurance, speak to a Risk Advisor @ Metropolitan Risk Advisory . If you want to buy brick, call Jack (718) 842-8650. Tell him Mike Stoop told you to call.
