Opinion ID: 2618356
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Duty Owed by a General Contractor

Text: Whether a general contractor owes a duty of care to the employees of a subcontractor is a question of law for the court. See Markowitz v. Arizona Parks Bd., 146 Ariz. 352, 354, 706 P.2d 364, 366 (1985) (issue of duty one of law for the court). The court of appeals recognized this rule and held that Riebe owed no duty of care to Lewis as a matter of law. The court of appeals reached this conclusion by examining the details of Riebe's control over the work at the construction site and finding that Riebe did not retain sufficient control over Garges' work to subject Riebe to liability for Lewis' injuries under Restatement (Second) of Torts § 414 (1965). Lewis v. Riebe Enter., Inc., 170 Ariz. 207, 210, 823 P.2d 74, 78 (App. 1990). We believe the court of appeals' reliance on § 414 to determine whether Riebe owed Lewis a duty of care is misplaced. Section 414 provides: Negligence in Exercising Control Retained by Employer. [A general contractor] who entrusts work to an independent contractor, but who retains the control of any part of the work, is subject to liability for physical harm to others for whose safety the employer owes a duty to exercise reasonable care, which is caused by his failure to exercise his control with reasonable care. (Emphasis added.) Rather than addressing the threshold question of whether a duty exists, we believe § 414 addresses the scope of a general contractor's duty once that duty is found to exist. In fact, § 414, by its own language, subjects a general contractor to liability only if the general contractor owes a duty [to the person injured] to exercise reasonable care. Thus, before considering § 414, we turn to well-established Arizona case law to determine whether Riebe owed Lewis any duty of care. This court has previously held that a general contractor has a duty to provide a safe workplace for the employees of subcontractors. The general rule which defines the common law obligation of the general contractor to the employee of the subcontractor imposes upon the former the obligation to exercise ordinary care to furnish the latter with a reasonably safe place in which to work or, if there is danger attendant upon his work which arises from conditions that are not obvious, to give the employee reasonable warning of such danger. Manhattan-Dickman Constr. Co. v. Shawler, 113 Ariz. 549, 553, 558 P.2d 894, 898 (1976) (emphasis added), quoting Jean v. Collins Constr. Co., 215 Cal. App.2d 410, 416-17, 30 Cal. Rptr. 149, 153 (1963) (citations omitted); see also Durnin v. Karber Air Conditioning Co., 161 Ariz. 416, 417, 420, 778 P.2d 1312, 1313, 1316 (App. 1989) (affirming jury instruction stating general contractor has duty to provide employees of subcontractors with reasonably safe work site); cf. 3 J.D. Lee & Barry A. Lindahl, Modern Tort Law § 43.54 (rev. ed. 1990) (general contractor who coordinates work of various subcontractors owes duty to workers to keep premises safe). We hold, therefore, that Riebe did owe a duty of care to Lewis  a duty to provide Lewis with a reasonably safe place to work.