Virginia Lawyers Weekly

The collapse of the building at Chester Village earlier this month is a stark reminder that construction can be a dangerous business. A worker on the Chesterfield County structure was killed when the second floor of the building collapsed onto the first.

While a disaster such as that one is rare, an owner or contractor faced with a building collapse should still have a plan of action to deal with the aftermath.

After the shock and awe have worn off, the first thing the owner or contractor must do is notify its insurance company as required by its policy. Failure to do so could lead to denial of a valid claim simply because of a lack of timely notice. Given the expense of litigation (including attorneys’ fees), potential liability, and lost revenue and profit, your clients cannot afford to miss this simple step.

The second, and equally important, step is to find an independent third party to assess the situation while the dust is still floating and the cleanup has not begun. A collapse such as that at Chester Village could have any of a number of causes. It could be from the design of the project, the execution of that design, an errant subcontractor, faulty materials, bad soil readings or vandalism, to name a few. A third party that has no stake in the outcome of the project will be willing to let your client, whether an owner or general contractor, know what the issues are that led to the collapse regardless of whether that news is what the client wishes to hear.

In order to allow a third party to make such an assessment, the owner or general contractor must have all of the plans and specifications ready and easily accessible for examination. Without the plans and specifications as a starting place, it would be difficult to determine a baseline from which to begin the analysis.

Once the finger pointing begins, information will be key in assisting your client with how to best deal with the myriad legal issues that will most certainly arise. These include insurance coverage issues, construction defect claims, faulty design, faulty material or simple human error. Each and every party to the project, from the insurance company to the drywall supplier, could seek to place blame elsewhere in an effort to avoid liability and monetary loss.

An independent and unbiased assessment early in the process will help you and your client determine the best avenue to deal with the situation. Getting this assessment early, before county, state and insurance investigators have sifted through the rubble will make the assessment more accurate. Additionally, the more information that your client has early in the process, the better able it will be to assist these other investigators, whether from the insurance company or a county agency, in completing their work.

Well-organized information regarding the project creates a good record of events as they happen and evolve. Be sure that your client keeps consistent notes and is apprised of all of the developments on the job site both prior to any disaster and after such a disaster. The more information about the progress of the project prior to the collapse that your client can present to any investigators or experts examining the collapse site, the better.

Having information relating to the project design and progress easily accessible and well organized will go a long way toward creating the right impression of competence in the minds of insurance and governmental investigators, thus increasing your client’s credibility with those investigators.

Remember that investigators are human and can form an impression based upon their particular agendas, their experiences with your clients and their personal viewpoints. Creating a good first impression will increase the likelihood that a party other than your client will be under the microscope early in the investigation, thus giving you and your client valuable time to assess the situation and react appropriately.

If, after careful analysis of the data from client notes and the third-party assessment, you conclude that your client is at fault in some way for the disaster, you need to be frank in your discussions. Do not allow your client to move into denial. Dealing with the facts, good or bad, early on in a privileged setting will put your client in the mindset to deal better with the financial, regulatory and human issues.

Once the investigations begin, you should be in regular contact with your client to assure that the investigators, whether from insurance companies or governmental agencies, are both kept apprised of your client’s actions regarding the investigation, and to assure that your client is communicating these actions in a clear and appropriate manner so as to avoid misinterpretation.

You should be the point of contact with investigators. However, if your client balks at the idea of having its attorney speak to investigators and the media, assure that it has a single individual as the point of contact for all inquiries. Having one spokesperson – you – for your client will keep the message is consistent and clear.

In summary, none of us wants our clients to be involved with a building collapse, much less one that involves fatalities.

However, we should all do our best to make sure that our clients are prepared for such an event. Following the steps outlined above, from immediate notice to your client’s insurance carrier to managing your clients contact with governmental and insurance investigators, will go a long way toward assuring that your client comes out of a horrible situation in the best possible shape.

Christopher G. Hill is a principal in the Richmond office of DurretteBradshaw PLC. He specializes in construction law and commercial litigation.

Close this Window Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Print RSS Feed Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments

Connotea del.icio.us Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com

Furl Google Hugg Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb

Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

More »