Youngstown Daily Legal News

Immunity for contractors, architects during emergencies is proposed

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: December 30, 2014

The Ohio chapters of the American Institute of Architects and the Associated General Contractors of Ohio have joined a pair of state lawmakers in supporting a bill that would grant civil immunity to engineers, architects and surveyors providing services during a declared emergency.

Under current standards, a registered engineer, surveyor or architect could be sued while volunteering during an emergency.

“Following a large-scale disaster, hundreds or thousands of buildings may be damaged. Average citizens won’t know whether their homes and businesses are safe to enter or occupy,” said Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, a fellow in the American Institute of Architects and president of its Ohio division.

“Damage that appears severe to the untrained eye may only be superficial or non-structural, posing no immediate hazard. Far worse, damage that appears minor or superficial may actually undermine a building’s foundation or connections between structural elements, posing a safety threat to people who just want to get back in their homes, retrieve their favored possessions and start to rebuild. Architects are essential to this work.”

House Bill 379, also known as the Good Samaritan bill, is sponsored by Reps. Louis Blessing III, R-Cincinnati, and Al Landis, R-Dover.

The measure, which was unanimously passed by the House earlier this year, would grant a volunteer who is an architect, engineer or surveyor civil liability immunity for any acts, errors or omissions conducted in the performance of professional services that are requested by government officials for a building, structure, piping or other engineered system during a declared emergency and 90 days afterward.

Before the bill was reported out of the Senate Civil Justice Committee last week, Murphy, a licensed architect, submitted proponent testimony highlighting her experience in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

“There I met professionals from all over the country who had volunteered their time to restore some order in the lives of so many displaced citizens,” she said.

“Our purpose was to prevent unnecessary demolition of cultural and historical elements of the built environment, to offer repair solutions within the means of the building owners, to recommend the effective distribution of available emergency assistance and help ensure the safety of building owners, occupants and emergency workers.”

If enacted, Murphy said HB 379 would protect volunteer responders, enhance the state’s emergency preparedness and allow citizens to recover more quickly from disasters that cause widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure.

“The formal responsibility to inspect and assess the safety of these buildings lies with emergency managers and city building officials,” she said. “However, without volunteer assistance, these resources can be overwhelmed and the process can take weeks or months, adding to public uncertainty and delaying full appraisal of the damage.”

Murphy added that Congress has determined that “efforts by the construction, architectural and engineering industries make it safer for police, firefighters and other rescue workers to work on search and recovery efforts.”

“Just as doctors at the scene of an accident faced potential liability for rendering aid, architects can be attacked for professional opinions they offer after a building suffers damage in a disaster,” Murphy said, adding that architects “do not fear liability.”

“We accept it every day, on every project, in a determined and contractual manner. But an emergency situation is different.”

In joint sponsor testimony, Blessing and Landis said it’s not a “leap in logic” to assume that few, if any, of the professionals that would be protected by HB 379 would be willing to risk their livelihood for volunteer work.

“While altruism should be applauded, it should not be expected,” the pair said. “This is precisely why this bill is great: it encourages more volunteer work — a great value to the public as engineering services are not cheap — by removing barriers that discourage such work.”

Andrea Ashley, vice president of government relations for AGC of Ohio, also offered proponent testimony for HB 379.

“Ohio is one of over 20 states that does not have a law that would adequately protect those who respond to natural disasters and other emergencies and provide construction-related services,” she said, adding that state-based contractors are willing to help during disasters.

“One example took place after a tornado ravaged Lake County on June 5, 2010, just before midnight.”

Lake Local Schools, located in Lake Township, was in the path of the storm, which destroyed most of the high school and significantly damaged 10 other buildings.

“After the tornadoes caused extensive damage and resulted in the deaths of six people, then-Gov. Strickland declared a state of emergency for northwest Ohio,” Ashley said, noting that associates from Rudolph/Libbe, a full-service, national contractor with an office in Lake Township, responded within an hour after the storm.

“Rudolph/Libbe then mobilized a full crew before dawn the next day to secure the site and clean up debris. The company worked with school officials to identify safe sites for news crews, which came in from all over the country and take measures to ensure public safety.”

All of the firm’s efforts immediately following the tornado were voluntary.

“The companies that are willing to respond in an emergency to protect the public and possibly help save lives should not have to be concerned about the risk of lawsuits,” Ashley said.

HB 379 would not cover wanton, willful or intentional misconduct.

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