As a General Contractor, managing job sites with multiple sub-contractors can be challenging. Disputes among sub-contractors on construction sites are common, especially when one subcontractor’s work impacts another’s. This is one of the reasons why General Contractor Insurance is so important. It will protect you from serious financial risks that come with unexpected lawsuits.
What is General Contractor Insurance?
What happens when one sub-contractor doesn’t carefully work around another and work, property or equipment gets damaged? Worse yet, what if one of the contractors is injured on a disorganized work site?
It is important to be reminded that all contractors owe a legal duty of care to the other sub-contractors working on the site.
Yes, this does mean that, apart from the everyday safety precautions each contractor has in place, they must all be vigilant around others working on the site. Accidents can and do happen. Prevention is always better than cure.
Your General Contractor Insurance will protect you from bodily injury or property damage claims from third parties like your client or visitors to the job site.
TOUGH ON DISCRIMINATION
Another challenge facing General Contractors is discrimination. For instance, women make up only 9% of the total workforce. Gender stereotypes, Sexual harassment, gender stereotypes, opportunities, wage gaps, and access are a few of the challenges they face.
Here are 2 kinds of discrimination that are common in the construction industry:
- Discrimination based on age, race, and gender can also result in a claim against you.
- Failure to hire or to promote based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protected classes like, but not limited to, blindness, deafness, blindness, or cancer.
WHY YOU SHOULD WORRY
You may consider yourself a fair employer, especially when compared to some other General Contractors that you know. You may also be confident in the safety precautions that you insist on. However, statistics are against you.
Employee lawsuits have risen 400% in the last 20 years. If this doesn’t bother you, then the thought of losing a claim brought you more than $200 000. This is the average amount awarded by juries – and it doesn’t include legal fees!
NO, IT’S NOT JUST YOU
You may also think that a claim cannot be brought against you by a subcontractor’s employees. This isn’t so. Tradespeople like carpenters, painters, and electricians can sue both their employer and the General Contractor for unlawful termination, discrimination, and retaliation.
This is because you control job operations, subcontractors, and day-to-day duties at the site.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR INSURANCE
So, what do you do? Whilst you can (and must) take any complaints of harassment or discrimination on the site seriously and act promptly, you should also protect your business in other ways.
One of these is to invest in an insurance package that will cover these kinds of claims. Your current insurance policy may not.
To find out what insurance is best for your General Contractor business, consult an agent at Contractors Liability. They specialize in insurance for the construction industry. Call and get a free quote in just 5-minutes. Call (866) 225-1950