You have hired a contractor to build a welcoming porch in front of your Cocoa Village art gallery. Or your house needs a new roof, but the contractor fails to pull a permit and does a shoddy job. The porch collapses and the roof leaks. Do you have recourse? We cannot stress enough how important it is to ensure the contractor, design firm, architect, or builder you hire is licensed and bonded in Florida.
It may be difficult to hold a fly-by-night, unlicensed contractor liable. If you have work done by a licensed contractor, and the work causes construction defect injuries in Cocoa, we are the premises liability attorneys who can hold the person responsible for their substandard work.
Design defects can occur before the first nail is hammered when the architect designs a building that does not meet safety codes, or an engineer designs an electrical system incorrectly. A builder can order incorrect materials unintentionally or to cut corners, and a contractor or subcontractor can be in such a hurry to meet a schedule that they also cut corners. Anyone involved in the building process must also warn passersby of any dangers, such as falling debris, that may be present, and posting an incorrect sign, or none at all, can also be ground for liability if an accident injures a pedestrian.
The basis for recovering compensation if you are injured in an accident is through a negligence injury claim. Building professionals have a duty to provide a safe structure or warn those exposed to danger they create. If they breach that duty and create an unsafe environment in which someone is harmed, the building professional can be found negligent. Some common construction defect injuries in Cocoa occur because:
When disaster strikes, contractors, subcontractors, builders, designers, and architects will try to point fingers at the others involved, but sometimes construction defect injuries can be determined by contract.
Because so many professionals have their hands in a project, contracts are generally executed between the parties, allocating liability and allowing some parties to indemnify others. Contracts involve giving up something of value to get something else of value, called consideration. If you are a home or building owner engaging an architect or builder, you will want them to be liable for construction defects, particularly if you or your family or tenants are injured because of the flaws.
Indemnification clauses are used for one party to absolve another of liability. For example, a subcontractor indemnifies the contractor, which means if the contractor is sued for a building defect the subcontractor causes, the subcontractor assumes liability and agrees to pay back the contractor’s expenses incurred because of a lawsuit. When dealing with construction flaw injuries in Cocoa, your attorney should be knowledgeable about negligence laws but also how contracts allocate responsibility.
Construction defects can be traced back to negligent behavior by professionals who are expected to deliver a finished product that is safe and up to reasonable standards. A jury would most likely find a construction road crew that forgets to set up warning signs at a road project negligent and liable for injuries if a pedestrian falls down an unmarked manhole. Violating Brevard County building codes is negligent because they are in place to ensure safe construction.
If you are injured because of negligence, you are entitled to compensatory damages that include what can be calculated, such as your medical bills and lost wages, and what cannot be calculated, such as your emotional trauma, having to live with a disfigurement, and loss of the enjoyment of life. Contact an experienced lawyer after construction flaw injuries in Cocoa.
Florida is notorious for its unlicensed contractors, and the best move you can make is to ensure the ones you hire are licensed. They can then be held liable for shoddy workmanship or actions that injure you, your family, or guests.
Call now. We will sit down with you and listen to your story. Our goal is to hold those who injure you through negligence responsible and to get you the most compensation possible. After construction defect injuries in Cocoa, our personal injury attorneys can guide your journey to justice.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
