Construction Projects: Is the Contractor Liable?

A project owner (in this case, a company) contracts a construction firm to build a residential building; to carry out the structural work, that firm rents a crane from a specialized company. At the end of the project, while moving the crane, it strikes the building. The project owner then sued the contractor, seeking to hold it liable for the actions of the service providers it had engaged. The effort was in vain. Upon reviewing the case, the Court of Cassation noted that no subcontracting relationship exists when a service provider leases equipment to a contractor—including labor, transportation, assembly, and disassembly—without having been entrusted with any specific services. Consequently, in the absence of a subcontracting relationship with the lessor, the builder is not liable for damage attributable to the lessor.> The court ruling