{"id":826,"date":"2012-09-19T14:49:28","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T20:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=826"},"modified":"2012-09-19T14:49:28","modified_gmt":"2012-09-19T20:49:28","slug":"construction-managers-obligations-may-include-duties-to-subcontractors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-managers-obligations-may-include-duties-to-subcontractors\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Manager\u2019s Obligations may Include Duties to Subcontractors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alston & Bird – September 12, 2012<\/p>\n

Parties often question what, if any, standard of care construction managers (CMs) owe on a project. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed this question when a \u201cgreenhorn\u201d carpenter was injured while trying to make repairs on the upper floors of a Trump Tower construction project in Chicago. The carpenter sued the project\u2019s CM, arguing the CM was negligent by allowing work to continue despite high winds, and by not requiring the greenhorn to work with a more experienced \u201cjourneyman\u201d carpenter.<\/p>\n

The CM acknowledged that, under Illinois law and the Restatement of Torts, it owed a duty of care if (1) it entrusts work to an independent contractor; and (2) retains control of any part of the work. Conceding that it retained a \u201chigh degree of control over this worksite,\u201d the CM argued \u201cthat it never entrusted work to [the subcontractor] because [the CM] never entered directly into a contract with [the subcontractor].\u201d Relying on O\u2019Connell v. Turner Constr. Co., the CM contended that the subcontractor contracted directly with the owner, but the CM only signed the subcontract as the owner\u2019s agent, so therefore it did not \u201centrust\u201d the work and owed no duty to the subcontractor\u2019s employees.<\/p>\n

The 7th Circuit distinguished O\u2019Connell by pointing to the fact that the CM actually selected the subcontractor:<\/p>\n

In [O\u2019Connell], the court concluded that a project manager did not entrust work to a subcontractor because it had not \u201cactually selected the contractors or subcontractors,\u201d even though it had helped the site\u2019s owner in drafting contracts and handling construction bids. Here, in contrast, the record shows that [the CM] selected [the subcontractor]. [The CM] does not explain why it should matter that it was technically acting as an agent for the owner when it made the selection.<\/p>\n

Due to the CM\u2019s control in selecting the subcontractor, the 7th Circuit concluded that the CM \u201centrusted work\u201d to the subcontractor, even though it was only acting as the owner\u2019s agent. As a result, the CM owed a duty of care to the subcontractor\u2019s employees, and a jury had to decide whether the CM violated that duty.<\/p>\n

The opinion does not address why the CM had a duty to ensure safe working conditions rather than the subcontractor \u2014 the plaintiff\u2019s actual employer. While the court plainly focused on the CM\u2019s role in hiring the subcontractor and its continuing control over the work, the court did not address the apparently undisputed principal\/agency relationship between the owner and the CM, but instead, only questioned \u201cwhy it should matter\u201d that the CM was only the owner\u2019s agent.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the indemnity obligations owed to the CM by the subcontractor and the owner will define the true scope of the CM\u2019s exposure. However, premising liability on the nebulous concepts of how involved a CM is in selecting a subcontractor and the degree of control the CM retains \u2014 rather than on the CM agreement and the subcontract itself \u2014 could prove to be a Pandora\u2019s box of responsibility for construction managers that otherwise believe their exposure is relatively limited. Moreover, the holding may give CM\u2019s a negative incentive to be less hands-on despite obligations running to the owner, because the express principal\/agency distinctions do not alone protect the CM, even when the CM is acting within its scope as agent.<\/p>\n

via Federal (7th Cir. Ct. App.): construction manager\u2019s obligations may include duties to subcontractors – Lexology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alston & Bird – September 12, 2012 Parties often question what, if any, standard of care construction managers (CMs) owe on a project. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed this question when a \u201cgreenhorn\u201d carpenter was injured while trying to make repairs on the upper floors of a Trump Tower construction project in… Continue reading Construction Manager\u2019s Obligations may Include Duties to Subcontractors<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,9],"tags":[72,223,121],"class_list":["post-826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","category-construction-contracts","tag-construction-contracts-2","tag-construction-manager","tag-subcontractors","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nConstruction Manager\u2019s Obligations may Include Duties to Subcontractors - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-managers-obligations-may-include-duties-to-subcontractors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Construction Manager\u2019s Obligations may Include Duties to Subcontractors - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alston & Bird – September 12, 2012 Parties often question what, if any, standard of care construction managers (CMs) owe on a project. 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