After offices and other places of business reopen following COVID-19 shutdowns, tenants and owners face increased legal liability, and property insurance plans may not cover this risk.
If an employee or guest contracts the disease, the prospect of a lawsuit puts companies and property owners at risk. Though most re-openings come with stringent measures to protect the health of workers and visitors, those actions may not be enough to protect a company from liability if someone catches COVID-19 within their property.
Companies have to follow the necessary guidelines to safeguard their buildings from COVID-19 transmission, but they also must ensure compliance with those measures, a lawyer interviewed by GlobeSt advises. Plaintiffs would not necessarily have a difficult time proving that they were infected at a particular location.
The prevalence of mobile devices, private security cameras, and other tracking and tracing methods, there could be enough data to determine who was within six feet of an infected person. If businesses adhere to guidelines to prevent disease transmission, though, they stand a much better chance of prevailing in court.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Jan 5, 2022
Boston drops parking requirements for affordable housing
Measure expected to spur new projects.
Codes and Standards | Jan 4, 2022
Dept. of Energy Better Climate Challenge aims for 50% GHG emission reduction by 2030
Program offers technical assistance and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.
Codes and Standards | Jan 4, 2022
Architects at New York firm take steps to unionize
Support for unionization reported at two other New York firms.
Codes and Standards | Jan 3, 2022
Biden’s executive order for a carbon-neutral government includes green materials mandate
As a driver of demand, federal procurement impact could ripple through the economy.
Codes and Standards | Jan 3, 2022
Controversial California solar power incentive proposal would reduce subsidies
Plan intended to encourage customers to install power storage systems.
Codes and Standards | Jan 3, 2022
New York City bans new gas hookups
Applies to gas stoves, boilers, and heaters in new buildings and buildings that undergo gut renovations.
Codes and Standards | Jan 3, 2022
New engineering guide on fire safety for very tall buildings released
Topics include emergency egress, fire resistance, building envelope, suppression, detection, alarms, and smoke control.
Codes and Standards | Dec 22, 2021
Updated ASCE 7-22 standard includes first-ever criteria for tornado-resistant design
New document provides up-to-date, coordinated loading provisions for general structural design.
Codes and Standards | Dec 21, 2021
Outdated and redundant building codes plague St. Louis area development
Region’s combined codes nearly double the length of the IRS Code.
Digital Twin | Dec 20, 2021
Groups ally to advance augmented reality and digital twin technology
AREA and Digital Twin Consortium to work on improving how technology components interoperate.
