Fighting for a safe and fair Scaffold Law to protect workers, fix New York’s aging infrastructure, build more affordable housing, and boost the state’s economy.
A 140-year-old law is making it impossible to solve NY's housing crisis.
The Scaffold Law inflates insurance costs, drains construction budgets, and blocks affordable housing from getting built. NY is the only state still stuck with absolute liability.
https://t.co/O3lHzmPnPG
"One area where New York officials could immediately act would be to repeal an antiquated law dating from 1885. This law, known euphemistically as the 'scaffold law', increases the cost of construction by 5-7% in New York State."
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"One appellate decision has given defense counsel some firm ground on which to defend a standard § 240(1) case, particularly one involving a fall from a ladder."
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"Reduce costs by supporting affordable captive insurers, create an excess liability fund for affordable housing providers, invest in resilient infrastructure, and reform the scaffold law to remove absolute liability."
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"The Scaffold law accounts for about 10% of construction costs in the state — creating a significant obstacle to build new units. The statute has come under fire in recent years for leading to an uptick in fraudulent claims."
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"Sampson says ABC has a few priorities heading into 2024. Eliminating the so-called scaffold law, which Sampson says balloons the cost of housing and other projects because of liability insurance costs."
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💬 NY's Mayors on the Scaffold Law: "Municipalities involved in construction projects are faced with significantly higher construction costs. Following our neighboring states, we recommend a comparative negligence standard..."
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"Since municipalities are large property owners, we are faced with widespread liability for accidents that occur on work sites often beyond our supervision."
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"Steve Katz, the owner of K. Restoration, says he rarely used to get fall claims. But in the last several years, he's getting one or two claims a year.
'I used to pay maybe $300,000 a year in liability insurance,' he said. 'Now, I pay $2 million."'
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"The New York State Court of Appeals recently upheld three decisions in favor of defendants in cases involving alleged violations of Section 240(1) of the New York State Labor Law."
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"Elmendorf says they'll continue to push for the Legislature to pass other cost-savings measures, including changing the state's 19th century scaffold laws, which hold construction companies liable for gravity-related accidents."
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"Whether affordable housing proposals come from Gov. Hochul or the Legislature, far too many financial resources will be wasted on liability costs due to the only-in-New York Scaffold Law."
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"Scaffolding contractors in New York City seeing a rise in 'suspicious' injury claims by their workers are concerned a safety law written in 1885 to protect workers might be manipulated to commit fraudulent activity."
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"She should target policies that drive up the cost of construction here, especially in the city, including the Scaffold Law, which holds owners and developers wholly liable for height-related injuries even when they’re hardly at fault."
https://t.co/qsP7tZ7pA2