Opinion ID: 1857788
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Possession/Control.

Text: This court has consistently held that an employee of a subcontractor is a business invitee. Downs, 481 N.W.2d at 524; Konicek v. Loomis Bros., Inc., 457 N.W.2d 614, 618 (Iowa 1990). Thus Robinson could claim the duty owed him by this status, but only if he were able to prove Poured Walls was a possessor of land. As already noted, that determination depends primarily upon the amount of control that a particular person exercises over the property. Downs, 481 N.W.2d at 524. The possessor's involvement in overseeing the construction must be substantial in order to impose liability under a safe-premises theory. Lunde, 299 N.W.2d at 479. Thus although the possessor-of-land exception is defined by control over the land, courts make this determination by looking at the degree of control exercised over the work. Robinson contends that Bob Wetherell relinquished possession of his property to Poured Walls for purposes of the sewer line repair, and that Poured Walls thereafter retained substantial control over the excavation work. Neither assertion finds any support whatsoever in this record. Wetherell, the owner of the property, contacted Poured Walls about the sewer backup only because the company had recently installed the line. The record reveals that Poured Walls is not in the business of performing excavations to repair sewer lines so it hired Jack Spaw to do the job. It is undisputed that, with the exception of one piece of pipe purchased by a Poured Walls employee, Jack Spaw provided all the labor and equipment to do the work. By his own testimony, Spaw was in charge of the job site, controlling and directing the work. None of the laborers, including Robinson, testified otherwise. Clearly Poured Walls' limited involvement in hiring the subcontractor and checking on the project's progress is insufficient as a matter of law to create liability as a possessor of land under this court's prior interpretations of section 343 of the Restatement. Downs, 481 N.W.2d at 524-25 (general contractor, who owned property developed for show home and regularly inspected progress of subcontractor's work, exercised insufficient control over premises to be held liable under Restatement sections 343 or 414 for injury sustained by carpenter); Lunde, 299 N.W.2d at 479 (premises owner not liable as possessor of land where occupation and control of property relinquished to independent contractor during construction period); Thrasher v. Gerken, 309 N.W.2d 488, 489 (Iowa 1981) (no liability as possessor of land where employer's only involvement was to insure construction complied with contract specifications). Only where the record reveals substantial control over the premises has liability been imposed. See, e.g., Stephens v. Crown Equip. Corp., 22 F.3d 832, 835-36 (8th Cir.1994) (applying Iowa law) (control retained where employer gave independent contractor's employees detailed instructions through use of pick cards, had nearly exclusive control over equipment used, and contractually reserved right to control scope of work); Giarratano v. Weitz Co., 259 Iowa 1292, 1305, 147 N.W.2d 824, 830-31 (1967) (control retained where general contractor assumed responsibility for safety aspects of entire job); Farris v. General Growth Dev. Corp., 354 N.W.2d 251, 254 (Iowa App.1984) (general contractor exercised control over job site through general supervision, inspection, and direction of work). The district court was correct in so ruling.