San Francisco Construction Accident Lawyers
Construction sites are among the most dangerous and legally complicated workplaces in San Francisco and the Bay Area. General contractors, subcontractors, property owners, equipment operators, delivery companies, and multiple trades may all be working in the same location, often under changing site conditions and tight project schedules.
When a worker is seriously injured in the San Francisco Bay Area, workers’ compensation might not be the only source of recovery. If another contractor, property owner, equipment operator, commercial driver, or other third party contributed to the accident, the injured person may also have a separate third-party personal injury claim.
The San Francisco construction accident lawyers at The Hassell Law Group represent construction workers and others seriously injured because of unsafe construction-site conditions throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area.
Our attorneys have more than 90 years of combined personal injury experience, an undefeated trial and arbitration record, and proven experience handling contested construction and premises liability cases.
Contact The Hassell Law Group today at (415) 334-4111 for a free consultation.
There is no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
Construction Site Accident Result
The Hassell Law Group recovered $890,000 in a disputed-liability construction accident case for a client who stepped into an uncovered opening on a job site.
The case illustrates a central issue in construction litigation: Who created, controlled, knew about, or had responsibility for correcting the dangerous condition?
You can review additional case results: Hassell Law Group case results.
Why Construction Accident Cases Are Different
Construction accidents frequently involve multiple companies and overlapping safety responsibilities. The injured worker may know what happened physically but still have no practical way to identify every company that controlled the work area, supplied equipment, created the condition, or had responsibility for correcting it.
Our attorneys may investigate:
- Who controlled the area where the accident occurred
- Who created the dangerous condition
- Which contractor had responsibility for correcting it
- Whether required barriers, guardrails, warnings, or fall protection were missing
- Whether equipment was operated or maintained negligently
- Whether another subcontractor caused the accident
- Whether the property owner retained relevant control
- Whether workers’ compensation and a separate third-party claim may both apply
Construction sites also change rapidly. Openings may be covered, equipment repaired, debris removed, temporary barriers relocated, and workers reassigned shortly after an accident.
Early evidence preservation matters. Injured parties should act quickly to have our attorneys to investigate their case.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
Workers’ Compensation vs. a Third-Party Construction Accident Claim
California workers’ compensation can provide important benefits after a workplace injury, including medical care and disability benefits.
However, workers’ compensation generally does not compensate an injured worker for pain and suffering. The California Division of Workers’ Compensation explains the benefits available to injured workers in its Injured Worker guidance.
For most qualifying workplace injuries, California Labor Code § 3602 generally makes workers’ compensation the employee’s exclusive remedy against the employer, subject to statutory exceptions.
That does not necessarily prevent a lawsuit against someone else.
California Labor Code § 3852 preserves an injured employee’s right to pursue a responsible third party.
For example, a worker may potentially have a claim when:
- Another subcontractor leaves an unguarded opening
- A separate company negligently operates a crane or forklift
- A commercial vehicle strikes a worker
- A property owner contributes to a dangerous condition
- An outside company supplies defective equipment that is used at the job site
- Another contractor creates an unsafe work area
Workers’ compensation and a third-party personal injury claim can sometimes proceed at the same time. The third-party claim can be especially important when the injury causes permanent physical limitations, substantial wage loss, future care needs, or significant pain and suffering.
Who Can Be Liable for a Construction Accident?
Potential defendants may include:
General Contractors
A general contractor may potentially be responsible when its own conduct contributes to an accident or when legally significant control over the work relates to the hazard.
General contractors are not automatically responsible for every subcontractor injury. The facts surrounding retained control, site coordination, safety responsibilities, and the particular dangerous condition matter.
Subcontractors
Electrical, concrete, framing, roofing, excavation, demolition, and other subcontractors may create dangerous conditions affecting workers employed by different companies.
A subcontractor may be an important third-party defendant when its workers or equipment created the hazard, failed to correct it, or exposed workers from other trades to an unreasonable risk.
Property Owners and Developers
Liability can depend on control of the property, knowledge of the condition, contractual responsibilities, and the circumstances of the project.
Unsafe-property issues may overlap with those handled by our San Francisco premises liability lawyers.
Equipment Operators, Rental Companies, and Service Providers
Companies operating, supplying, inspecting, or maintaining cranes, forklifts, lifts, excavators, hoists, and other equipment may potentially be responsible when their negligence causes an accident.
Commercial Drivers
Dump trucks, delivery vehicles, concrete trucks, and other commercial vehicles create additional risks on construction sites and at site entrances.
Our San Francisco truck accident lawyers handle serious commercial vehicle claims.
Public Entities
Public construction projects can involve government agencies and special claim requirements, including shortened claim filing deadlines.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
Multi-Employer Construction Sites
California recognizes that several employers can have different safety responsibilities on one construction site.
California Labor Code § 6400 addresses responsibilities of employers that expose workers to a hazard, create the hazard, control safety conditions, or have responsibility for correcting it.
Cal/OSHA evidence may therefore become important in investigating who was responsible for an unsafe condition.
A safety citation does not automatically establish civil liability, but safety responsibilities, inspections, warnings, and corrective actions can provide important evidence. Our attorneys also look beyond the citation itself to determine who controlled the work, what the companies knew, and whether the hazard had been identified before the accident.
How Our Firm Builds a Construction Accident Case
Preserve the Scene
We seek witness statements, photographs, videos, measurements, incident records, site plans, and other evidence documenting the condition before the job site changes.
Identify Every Company Involved
We investigate the general contractor, subcontractors, property owner, equipment companies, vendors, and other entities connected to the work. A serious injury case can be undervalued if even one potentially responsible company is never identified.
Examine Contracts and Safety Responsibilities
Contracts, scopes of work, safety agreements, site logistics plans, and project documents may help establish responsibility for a particular work area or activity.
Obtain Safety and Inspection Evidence
Potential evidence can include:
- Cal/OSHA records
- Witness statements
- Incident reports
- Safety plans
- Training records
- Toolbox meeting records
- Inspection records
- Prior warnings
- Corrective-action records
- Photographs taken before the accident
Interview Witnesses
Construction crews can disperse quickly as projects progress. Witness information should be preserved promptly, particularly when several trades were working in the same area.
Use Experts When Necessary
Complex cases may require experts in construction safety, engineering, fall protection, heavy equipment, accident reconstruction, medicine, vocational loss, or economics. We have access to leading experts.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
Falls, Openings, Scaffolds, and Other Construction Hazards
Falls remain among the most serious construction hazards.
Accidents may involve roofs, scaffolds, ladders, platforms, incomplete stairways, unprotected edges, and floor openings.
Cal/OSHA Construction Safety Order § 1632 addresses protection of floor, roof, and wall openings.
Our $890,000 construction accident result involved a fall into an opening.
Other serious construction claims may involve:
- Falling objects
- Cranes and forklifts
- Excavations and trenches
- Electrical hazards
- Fires and explosions
- Construction vehicles
- Unsafe walkways
- Dangerous public access areas
Rather than treating every construction accident alike, our attorneys investigate the specific work activity, responsible companies, applicable safety responsibilities, and evidence.
Construction Accidents Involving Non-Workers
Not every construction-site injury involves an employee. Pedestrians, tenants, visitors, delivery drivers, neighboring property occupants, and motorists can also be injured by construction activity.
Examples include falling debris, unsafe temporary walkways, blocked sidewalks, unsecured materials, construction vehicles, poorly marked hazards, and dangerous conditions created near public areas.
These cases may involve ordinary negligence, premises liability, contractor negligence, public-entity issues, or several theories at once.
The injured person does not need to be a construction worker for a construction company or property owner to be potentially responsible for their injuries.
Common Construction Accident Injuries
Serious construction injuries may include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Vertebral fractures
- Broken legs and heels
- Crush injuries
- Amputations
- Burns
- Internal injuries
- Nerve damage
- Permanent disability
A severe construction injury can affect not only immediate medical treatment but also future employability, physical independence, and the ability to return to a physically demanding trade.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
What Compensation Can a Third-Party Personal Injury Claim Provide?
Depending on the circumstances, damages may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Reduced future earning capacity
- Rehabilitation
- Pain and suffering, emotional distress
- Long term disability
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Future care
For a worker whose career depends on lifting, climbing, kneeling, balancing, or operating equipment, even an injury that allows some return to work may still cause substantial long-term earning loss.
A third-party claim is particularly important because it can include damages, such as pain and suffering and emotional distress, that workers’ compensation generally does not provide.
If a construction accident results in a fatality, eligible family members may also have rights under California wrongful-death law. Our San Francisco wrongful death lawyers handle fatal negligence cases.
Workers’ Compensation Liens and Third-Party Settlements
When workers’ compensation benefits have been paid and a third-party recovery is also obtained, reimbursement and lien issues can arise.
California Labor Code § 3856 addresses important aspects of workers’ compensation reimbursement from third-party recoveries.
These issues should be considered before a third-party case is resolved because they can affect the compensation amount ultimately available to the injured worker.
What Should You Do After a Construction Accident?
When possible:
- Get medical treatment immediately.
- Report the accident to your employer and site supervisor.
- Photograph the scene and dangerous condition.
- Identify witnesses.
- Record the names of contractors working nearby.
- Preserve clothing, equipment, tools, and other evidence.
- Do not assume workers’ compensation is your only remedy.
- Speak with an experienced construction accident attorney before the site changes.
The California Division of Workers’ Compensation also advises workers to report workplace injuries promptly.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
How Long Do You Have to File a Construction Accident Lawsuit?
California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 generally provides two years for many personal injury claims based on negligence.
Claims involving public entities can have far shorter requirements. Under Government Code § 911.2, a qualifying personal injury claim against a public entity generally must be presented within six months.
Workers’ compensation has separate deadlines. Product claims, contractual issues, and other specialized causes of action can also involve different timing rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue if I am already receiving workers’ compensation?
Potentially. A worker may have a separate claim against a negligent third party even when workers’ compensation benefits are available.
Can I sue a general contractor?
Sometimes. Liability depends on the contractor’s own conduct, control, safety responsibilities, and relationship to the hazard.
What if another subcontractor caused my injury?
A negligent subcontractor that is not your employer may potentially be a third-party defendant who you can make a claim against.
What if I fell through a floor opening or from scaffolding?
These cases require immediate investigation of fall protection, covers, railings, warnings, site control, and which company was responsible for the area. Visual documentation of the accident area including photographs and/or video are helpful.
What if defective equipment caused the accident?
The operator, owner, rental company, maintenance provider, manufacturer, or another company may need to be investigated depending on what failed and why.
What if I was partly at fault?
Partial fault does not automatically eliminate a California negligence claim. Compensation may instead be reduced by the injured person’s percentage of responsibility.
What if I am not a construction worker?
Visitors, pedestrians, tenants, and motorists can also be injured by construction activity. Premises liability or other negligence principles may apply.
How much is my construction accident case worth?
Value depends on liability, injury severity, available insurance, medical expenses, future care, lost earnings, disability, pain and suffering, and other case-specific factors.
How much does HLG charge?
Qualifying cases are handled on a contingency-fee basis.
There is no attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Quick Contact FormNew Case Intake Form
Related Practice Areas
- San Francisco Premises Liability Lawyers
- San Francisco Slip and Fall & Trip and Fall Lawyers
- San Francisco Truck Accident Lawyers
- San Francisco Spinal Cord Injury Lawyers
- San Francisco Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyers
- San Francisco Wrongful Death Lawyers
Contact Our San Francisco Construction Accident Lawyers
Construction accidents require immediate investigation because the job site can change almost immediately.
The San Francisco construction accident lawyers at The Hassell Law Group will investigate the site, identify responsible companies, examine safety responsibilities, preserve evidence, determine whether a third-party claim exists, and document the full extent of your losses.
Our firm has more than 90 years of combined experience in personal injury law, an undefeated trial and arbitration record on client cases.
Contact The Hassell Law Group today at (415) 334-4111 for a free consultation.
No fee unless we recover compensation for you.
The general information provided on this website should not be considered legal advice and does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice, you should consult directly with an attorney. If you contact us by telephone, email, letter, or by contact form submission through this website, please note that such communication does not create or constitute an attorney-client relationship. We cannot act as your attorney until we are hired as your attorney by a formal written agreement.