PCM Insurance Question
An Architect on a site visit trips and falls on site, in this scenario, who's / which type of insurance covers this incident? Please explain
-
Hi Abdul Wehbe,
Typically, the employer's workers' compensation insurance would cover damages (wage replacement, medical expenses) caused by an employee's injury sustained while on the job. In this scenario, the architect's policy would kick in. Other factors may contribute to determining who is held liable for a specific incident at a job site, such as site conditions, negligence, etc.
Employers' liability insurance is another type of protection for the employer, in the case that the incident is not covered by workers' compensation insurance or if the employee sues the employer.
Check out Section 16.2, page 1007 (15th edition) in The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice for more information about types of insurance. Page 1018 covers workers' compensation insurance.
Hope this helps. Happy studying!
Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB
Black Spectacles
ARE Community -
Hey Kiara, Thank you for your reply!
So in this case, the architect workers' compensation would cover the incident because the site visit injury is considered "an employee's injury sustained while on the job." The AHPP does not dive deeply into insurance for site visits, and Ballast also lacks detailed information on this matter.
What confuses me is why the contractor's insurance wouldn't cover for such an incident?? I know based on Ballast, the contractor's insurance is not required to cover the architect's injury on site.
Ballast, page 15:" The General Conditions of the Contract for Construction require that contractors carry insurance that will protect them from the following types of claims:
- workers' compensation
- damages because of bodily injury,
- occupational sickness, or death of employees damages of bodily injury or death to people other than employees
- personal injury, which includes slander, libel, false arrest, and similar actions
- damages other than to the work because of destruction of tangible property, including loss of use resulting from such damages
- damages related to use of motor vehicles
- bodily injury or property damage arising when an injury occurs after the job is complete and the contractor has left the site
- contractual liability insurance"
However, here are my thought about this incident:
When an architect is on a site visit, the site conditions are the contractor's responsibility. This responsibility could potentially shift liability from the architect's insurance to the contractor's insurance, since this is a site related issue. Do you think it is a valid argument that the contractor's insurance could potentially cover the incident?
Curious to hear your thoughts..
-
Hi Abdul Wehbe,
The contractor's workers' compensation insurance would not typically cover this type of incident, as the architect is not an employee of the contractor.
However, if it is determined that the site conditions (and therefore, the contractor) contributed to the architect's injury, the contractor's general liability insurance could cover the incident.
Check out the case study about Commercial General Liability on page 1020 (15th edition) in The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice. It outlines similar scenarios to the one you mentioned.
For ARE purposes, try not to dive too much into hypothetical situations. It is easy to get caught up in the nitty gritty and potential scenarios, but as long as you understand the different types of insurance and what they generally cover, you are set!
Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB
Black Spectacles
ARE Community
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
3 comments