Opinion ID: 848632
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Common Work Area Doctrine

Text: At common law, property owners and general contractors generally could not be held liable for the negligence of independent subcontractors and their employees. However, in Funk v. Gen. Motors Corp., 392 Mich. 91, 104, 220 N.W.2d 641 (1974), this Court departed from this traditional framework and set forth an exception to the general rule of nonliability in cases involving construction projects: We regard it to be part of the business of a general contractor to assure that reasonable steps within its supervisory and coordinating authority are taken to guard against readily observable, avoidable dangers in common work areas which create a high degree of risk to a significant number of workmen. [Emphasis added.] We also articulated several practical considerations that supported this exception: Placing ultimate responsibility on the general contractor for job safety in common work areas will, from a practical, economic standpoint, render it more likely that the various subcontractors being supervised by the general contractor will implement or that the general contractor will himself implement the necessary precautions and provide the necessary safety equipment in those areas. [A]s a practical matter in many cases only the general contractor is in a position to coordinate work or provide expensive safety features that protect employees of many or all of the subcontractors.... [I]t must be recognized that even if subcontractors and supervisory employees are aware of safety violations they often are unable to rectify the situation themselves and are in too poor an economic position to compel their superiors to do so. [ Id. (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).] In Ormsby, supra at 54, 684 N.W.2d 320, we listed the elements of what had become known since Funk as the common work area doctrine: That is, for a general contractor to be held liable under the common work area doctrine, a plaintiff must show that (1) the defendant, either the property owner or general contractor, failed to take reasonable steps within its supervisory and coordinating authority (2) to guard against readily observable and avoidable dangers (3) that created a high degree of risk to a significant number of workmen (4) in a common work area. [Emphasis added.] We made clear in Ormsby that only when this test is satisfied may a general contractor be held liable for the alleged negligence of the employees of independent subcontractors with respect to job site safety. Id. at 55-56, 684 N.W.2d 320. The failure to satisfy any one of these elements is fatal to a Funk claim. Id. at 59, 684 N.W.2d 320.