Indiana Appellate Court Affirms Summary Judgment to General Contractor Where No Duty Existed Over Subcontractor’s Worker

The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment to a general construction manager of a project after concluding the construction manager owed no duty of care to a subcontractor’s pipefitter.  The worker was injured when he fell through a sheet of composite wood referred to as an “OSB board” that had been laid across a void on a temporary walkway.  The court determined that the construction manager could owe a duty of care to the worker only if one was imposed by a contractual obligation or if the construction manager assumed such a duty, either gratuitously or voluntarily.

Here, the court concluded that the contract did not impose a duty upon the construction manager for constructing and maintaining temporary walkways to the worker’s employer’s work site.  The contract called for the construction manager to coordinate communications regarding safety among contractors and to report any violations, but it did not confer upon the construction manager a project-wide duty to enforce safety regulations, nor was it charged with reviewing the contractors’ safety programs.  The court similarly held that the construction manager had not assumed a duty of care for the worker, for there was no evidence suggesting that the construction manager created the walkway or assumed responsibility for its maintenance.