What is a contractor’s liability if they caused damage toour house during a sewr line installation?
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What is a contractor’s liability if they caused damage toour house during a sewr line installation?
In order to replace our sewer line from the house to the street our contractor dug next to house. When he did this the footings under the brick front fell away and the brick is starting to fall away too. He claims the footings were inadequate (should have been attached to the house). Should he pay for the damages?
Asked on October 6, 2010 under General Practice, Minnesota
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
Whether or not he caused the damage and should have to pay is going to be the issue of the dispute - and lawsuit - between you. No one in this type of forum can answer this question for ou with any degree of certainly. What you are going to have to do is to get in an expert to look at the situation and determine what went wrong and by whom, if anyone at all. I would say that it would probably be an engineer that will need to be called in for the assessment. Once the engineer looks at the problem and renders a report you will better be able to see if the contractor bears any liability. You may also want to call you insurance agent and speak with him or her about putting in a claim under the policy. Good luck.
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