The Deadline to File Claims for Construction and Heavy Equipment Accidents
The deadline for filing most construction or heavy equipment accident claims in court in Hawaii is two (2) years from the date when the victim was exposed to the danger AND the injuries resulted therefrom. It should be noted, however, that there are exceptions to this rule- for example, claims against the City and County of Honolulu and the various other Counties must be filed with the appropriate agency within six (6) months of the date of the accident. Some statutes appear to indicate that there is also a maximum limit of six (6) years from the date of the alleged negligence in which to file a professional malpractice claim against an architect, a structural engineer, etc. You must file your claims in court prior to the expiration of such deadlines, or your claims may be lost—regardless of their merit. To be wise it is recommended that you immediately contact an attorney after an accident giving rise to injuries occurs- please do not hesitate to :
Contact Hawaii Injury Lawyer | Attorney now for a free evaluation of your case.
Construction and Heavy Equipment Accident Claim Information
A construction or heavy equipment accident claim may arise in a number of different ways. One contractor may conduct its business in a dangerous or negligent fashion giving rise to injuries to others- Accident Law Hawaii- Construction such as a property owner or the employees of a different contractor. (Under Hawaii law if the contractor’s employees themselves are injured, this would generally give rise to a workers’ compensation claim and not an independent construction accident claim.) A property owner may fail to warn of dangerous conditions on its property and this may cause an employee of a contractor to be injured. A contractor may be using heavy equipment or other equipment which is dangerous or defective and which causes injury to a worker or to a property owner.
Examples of Construction Accident and Heavy Equipment Claims
Some examples of construction accident claims are:
- Dangerous construction equipment having inadequate safety devices or warnings
- Cave-ins, sink holes, collapsing excavations, collapsing structures, etc.
- Falls due to failures to barricade or to warn
- Falls due to inadequate equipment or operations
- A property owner’s failure to warn of known dangerous conditions on the property
- Injuries to the employees of one contractor cause by the dangerous activities of a different contractor
Construction and Heavy Equipment Accident Investigations- an Insurer’s perspective
Construction Accident Investigation – the seven stages of a complete construction accident investigation Ron Prichard, P.E. PhD. of Arcanum Professional Services provides insight from an insurer’s perspective into the investigation and analysis of construction accidents- including the seven stages of a complete construction accident investigation: First Response; Gathering Information; Release; Analysis and Synthesis; Report Compilation; Communication; and Implementation.
Construction Accident Investigation – maximizing the reliability of eyewitness testimony by Ron Prichard, P.E. PhD. of Arcanum Professional Services provides insight from an insurer’s perspective into the three main sources of information for the investigation and analysis of construction accidents: (1) the physical attributes of the site, (2) the project and event artifacts, and (3) eyewitness testimony- with an emphasis on maximizing the reliability of eyewitness testimony.
