Archive for the ‘Indemnity’ Category

The roof leaks. The windows leak. The stucco is cracking. The house is not performing well. As between the builder and the subcontractor, who should bear responsibility for the cost of defending these claims and repairing the defects and damage? Historically, contracts for work on residential projects have required the subcontractor to assume responsibility if his workmanship is involved. The subcontractor was to defend the builder and hold it harmless from all claims arising out of, related to or deriving from the subcontractor’s work, including labor and materials. Critics of these “indemnity provisions” claimed they unfairly imposed liability on subcontractors regardless of whether their work was only partially to blame. Read the rest of this entry »