Who Is Liable for Construction Site Injuries in Georgia?
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It depends on whether the injured person was a construction worker or a visitor, and on each party’s place in the contracting chain. A worker’s own employer, and a general contractor that is the worker’s statutory employer, are protected by workers’ compensation’s exclusive remedy (O.C.G.A. §§ 34-9-8, 34-9-11). Other contractors, equipment makers, and, in limited circumstances, the property owner can be sued in tort.
The parties on a construction site
| Party | Injured worker's tort claim | Main rule |
|---|---|---|
| The worker's own employer | Barred; workers' compensation | § 34-9-11(a) |
| General or intermediate contractor above the employer, injury on its job premises | Barred; statutory employer | § 34-9-8(a), (d); Wright Associates, Inc. v. Rieder (1981) |
| Another subcontractor not in the worker's chain | Possible, as a third party | § 34-9-11.1(a) |
| Architect, engineer, or other construction design professional on the project | Barred, except for negligent design plans and specifications, tortious on-site activities that cause the injury, or intentional misconduct, or where it assumed safety practices by written contract | § 34-9-11(a) |
| Manufacturer or supplier of defective equipment or materials | Possible; product liability | § 51-1-11 |
| Property owner that hired the contractor | Limited; see below | §§ 51-2-4, 51-2-5, 51-3-1 |
How the statutory employer rule works, and its premises limit, are explained in suing a general contractor for a subcontractor injury.
When the property owner is responsible for a contractor’s negligence
Section 51-2-4 sets the default: an employer “generally is not responsible for torts committed by his employee when the employee exercises an independent business and in it is not subject to the immediate direction and control of the employer”. Section 51-2-5 lists six exceptions in which the one who hired the contractor is liable for the contractor’s negligence:
- The work is “wrongful in itself” or would be a nuisance if done in the ordinary manner.
- The work, according to the hiring party’s “previous knowledge and experience”, is “in its nature dangerous to others however carefully performed”.
- The wrongful act violates a duty the hiring party owes by express contract.
- The wrongful act violates a duty imposed by statute.
- The hiring party “retains the right to direct or control the time and manner of executing the work or interferes and assumes control”.
- The hiring party “ratifies the unauthorized wrong” of the contractor.
Separately, an owner that keeps control of part of the property owes the ordinary premises duty under § 51-3-1 to people invited onto it, a duty explained in what you must prove in a Georgia slip-and-fall case.
Visitors and passersby
A person who is not working on the project, such as a pedestrian or a delivery driver, is not limited by the workers’ compensation system as to the contractors. Their claim against the contractors and owner is an ordinary negligence or premises claim, and the contractors’ status as statutory employers does not affect it.
Small subcontractors
If the injured worker’s immediate employer has fewer than three regular employees and is not under the Act, § 34-9-8(c) allows the compensation claim to be brought directly against the intermediate or principal contractor; see when you can sue outside workers’ comp.
Information to gather after a site injury
- The contracts and subcontracts that connect each company on the site.
- Who owned, controlled, or was working on the specific area where the injury happened.
- The make and model of any equipment involved, and who supplied it.
- Incident reports and any site safety plan, including who was responsible for it.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 34-9-8, 34-9-11, 34-9-11.1, 51-1-11, 51-2-4, 51-2-5, 51-3-1.
- Wright Associates, Inc. v. Rieder, 247 Ga. 496 (1981)
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.