Legal Adviser: Avoiding Liability for Subs

Like anyone else, subcontractors can make mistakes. But when your sub goofs, how do you protect yourself? For example, suppose your electrical sub fails to ground a wire properly and one of his employees is injured. If the sub has all the right insurance, great. But if not, you, as the GC, could have a big problem. Workers Comp Coverage The GC is usually protected when a sub is covered by insurance. The general rule is that if the injured person is an employee, he can’t sue his employer; an injured employee’s sole recourse is a workers comp claim. If, however, the employer does not have workers comp insurance, many states allow the employer (here, the subcontractor) to