{"id":886772,"date":"2016-02-03T09:53:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T16:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=886772"},"modified":"2016-02-03T09:53:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-03T16:53:41","slug":"contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Drew W. Colby and James Heffernan | Partridge Snow &amp; Hahn LLP | January 2016<\/p>\n<p>In Downey v. Chutehall Construction Co. \u00a0(Lawyers Weekly No. 11-001-16), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled a contractor can be liable for violating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/building-codes-better-codes-or-better-enforcement\/\" target=\"_blank\">building codes<\/a> despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work.<\/p>\n<p>The contractor argued that the owner told it the roof had only one layer of roofing materials on it and directed the contractor to install another layer of roofing material directly on top of the existing roofing materials.\u00a0 The contractor knew the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/building-codes-are-boss-with-your-new-construction-or-renovation\/\" target=\"_blank\">building code <\/a>prohibited it from installing more than two layers.\u00a0 However, relying upon the owner\u2019s assurance that only one layer existed, the contractor followed the owner\u2019s directive and installed another layer of roofing material.<\/p>\n<p>A few years later, the owner hired another contractor to perform HVAC work.\u00a0 This contractor discovered the roof actually had four layers of roofing material and was leaking. The owner then hired a second roofing contractor to strip the roofing material, repair the leak, and install new roofing material.\u00a0 The owner sued the first roofing contractor for those costs.<\/p>\n<p>The question before the Court was whether the owner waived its statutory right to damages against the contractor by directing the contractor to perform the non-compliant work.\u00a0 The Court answered \u201cno\u201d.\u00a0 Specifically, Massachusetts has a statutory scheme that permits the recovery of damages against contractors who violate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/when-to-repair-or-replace-a-roof\/\" target=\"_blank\">building codes<\/a>.\u00a0 The Court ruled a statutory right may not be waived if the waiver would undermine the public policy underlying the statute.\u00a0 The building code and statutory rights relating to it were designed to ensure public safety, health and welfare.\u00a0 The Court found that permitting a waiver of owner rights to compel a contractor to comply with the building code would permit and even encourage endangering future owners, first responders, and the public in general and, consequently, would undermine the statute.\u00a0 As a result, despite being directed by the owner to perform the non-compliant work, the contractor was liable to the owner for the consequences of such non-compliant work.<\/p>\n<p>In summary, contractors are obligated to perform their work in accordance with the building codes.\u00a0 A failure to do so, even when directed by third parties, may result in contractors being exposed to liability.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.psh.com\/News\/ViewArticle\/tabid\/96\/ArticleId\/424\/Contractors-can-be-Liable-for-Following-Owners-Directives.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">For more on this article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drew W. Colby and James Heffernan | Partridge Snow &amp; Hahn LLP | January 2016 In Downey v. Chutehall Construction Co. \u00a0(Lawyers Weekly No. 11-001-16), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled a contractor can be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63],"tags":[8863,18,190],"class_list":["post-886772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-building-codes","tag-building-code","tag-contractor","tag-roof","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"can a contractor be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work\" \/>\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\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"can a contractor be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-03T16:53:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-03T16:53:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\"},\"wordCount\":394,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Building Code\",\"contractor\",\"Roof\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Building Codes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\",\"name\":\"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-03T16:53:41+00:00\",\"description\":\"can a contractor be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"can a contractor be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"can a contractor be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2016-02-03T16:53:41+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives","datePublished":"2016-02-03T16:53:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/"},"wordCount":394,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Building Code","contractor","Roof"],"articleSection":["Building Codes"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/","name":"Contractors can be Liable for Following Owners\u2019 Directives - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-03T16:53:41+00:00","description":"can a contractor be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the contractor to perform the non-compliant work","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-can-be-liable-for-following-owners-directives\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3IGM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886772"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":886773,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886772\/revisions\/886773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}