RETRIEVE BILL
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1937
2003-2004 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 14, 2003
___________
Introduced by Sen. VOLKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law and the civil practice law and rules, in
relation to the use of scaffolding and other devices for use by
employees and to repeal section 241-a of the labor law and subdivision
8 of section 1602 of the civil practice law and rules relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 240 of the labor law, the section heading and
2 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 683 of the laws of 1947 and subdivi-
3 sion 1 as amended by chapter 241 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read
4 as follows:
5 § 240. Scaffolding and other devices for use of employees. 1. All
6 contractors and owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-
7 family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work,
8 in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or
9 pointing of a building or structure shall furnish or erect, or cause to
10 be furnished or erected devices or equipment for the performance of such
11 labor, such as scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers,
12 blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, and ropes, [and other devices which]
13 where such devices or equipment are necessary to give reasonable and
14 adequate protection and safety to a person so employed. Where such
15 devices or equipment are furnished or erected, the devices or equipment
16 shall be so constructed, placed and operated as to [give proper] provide
17 reasonable and adequate protection and safety to a person so employed.
18 No liability pursuant to this subdivision for the failure to provide
19 protection to a person so employed shall be imposed on professional
20 engineers as provided for in article one hundred forty-five of the
21 education law, architects as provided for in article one hundred forty-
22 seven of such law or landscape architects as provided for in article one
23 hundred forty-eight of such law who do not direct or control the work
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
S LBD02209-02-3
S. 1937 2
1 for activities other than planning and design. This exception shall not
2 diminish or extinguish any liability of professional engineers or archi-
3 tects or landscape architects arising under the common law or any other
4 provision of law.
5 2. [Scaffolding or staging more than twenty feet from the ground or
6 floor, swung or suspended from an overhead support or erected with
7 stationary supports, except scaffolding wholly within the interior of a
8 building and covering the entire floor space of any room therein, shall
9 have a safety rail of suitable material properly attached, bolted,
10 braced or otherwise secured, rising at least thirty-four inches above
11 the floor or main portions of such scaffolding or staging and extending
12 along the entire length of the outside and the ends thereof, with only
13 such openings as may be necessary for the delivery of materials. Such
14 scaffolding or staging shall be so fastened as to prevent it from sway-
15 ing from the building or structure.
16 3. All scaffolding shall be so constructed as to bear four times the
17 maximum weight required to be dependent therefrom or placed thereon when
18 in use] Compliance with applicable provisions of the federal Occupa-
19 tional Safety and Health Act and Part 23 of the New York Codes, Rules
20 and Regulations, as amended, shall be prima facie proof of compliance
21 with subdivision one of this section.
22 3. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to relieve a person injured
23 in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or
24 pointing of a building or structure from the consequences of his culpa-
25 ble conduct in accordance with section fourteen hundred eleven of the
26 civil practice law and rules.
27 § 2. Section 241 of the labor law, as added by chapter 1108 of the
28 laws of 1969, the opening paragraph as amended by chapter 670 of the
29 laws of 1980, subdivisions 6, 7 and 8 as amended and subdivision 10 as
30 added by chapter 520 of the laws of 1989, subdivision 9 as added by
31 chapter 241 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
32 § 241. Construction, excavation and demolition work. 1. All contrac-
33 tors and owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-family
34 dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work, when
35 constructing or demolishing buildings or doing any excavating in
36 connection therewith, shall [comply with the following requirements:
37 1. If the floors are to be arched between the beams thereof, or if the
38 floors or filling in between the floors are of fireproof material, the
39 flooring or filling in shall be completed as the building progresses.
40 2. If the floors are not to be filled in between the beams with brick
41 or other fireproof material, the underflooring shall be laid on each
42 story as the building progresses.
43 3. If double floors are not to be used, the floor two stories imme-
44 diately below the story where the work is being performed shall be kept
45 planked over.
46 4. If the floor beams are of iron or steel, the entire tier of iron or
47 steel beams on which the structural iron or steel work is being erected
48 shall be thoroughly planked over, except spaces reasonably required for
49 proper construction of the iron or steel work, for raising or lowering
50 of materials or for stairways and elevator shafts designated by the
51 plans and specifications.
52 5. If elevators, elevating machines or hod-hoisting apparatus are used
53 in the course of construction, for the purpose of lifting materials, the
54 shafts or openings in each floor and at each landing level shall be
55 inclosed or fenced in on all sides by a barrier of suitable height,
56 except on two sides which may be used for taking off and putting on
S. 1937 3
1 materials, and those sides shall be guarded by an adjustable barrier not
2 less than three nor more than four feet from the floor and not less than
3 two feet from the edges of such shafts or openings.
4 6. All areas in which construction, excavation or demolition work is
5 being performed shall be so constructed, shored, equipped, guarded,
6 arranged, operated and conducted] construct, shore, equip, guard,
7 arrange, operate and conduct such work so as to provide reasonable and
8 adequate protection and safety to the persons employed therein or
9 lawfully frequenting such places. The commissioner may make rules to
10 carry into effect the provisions of this subdivision, and the owners and
11 contractors and their agents for such work, except owners of one and
12 two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the
13 work, shall comply therewith.
14 [7. The commissioner may make rules to provide for the protection of
15 workers in connection with the excavation work for the construction of
16 buildings, the work of constructing or demolishing buildings and struc-
17 tures, and the guarding of dangerous machinery used in connection there-
18 with, and the owners and contractors and their agents for such work,
19 except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do
20 not direct or control the work, shall comply therewith.
21 8.] 2. Compliance with applicable provisions of the federal Occupa-
22 tional Safety and Health Act and Part 23 of the New York Codes, Rules
23 and Regulations, as amended, shall be prima facie proof of compliance
24 with subdivision one of this section.
25 3. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to relieve a person injured
26 in the construction, demolition or excavation of a building or structure
27 from the consequences of his culpable conduct in accordance with section
28 fourteen hundred eleven of the civil practice law and rules.
29 4. The commissioner, as deemed necessary, shall promulgate rules
30 designed for the purpose of providing for the reasonable and adequate
31 protection and safety of persons passing by all areas, buildings or
32 structures in which construction, excavation or demolition work is being
33 performed, and the owners and contractors and their agents for such
34 work, except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but
35 do not direct or control the work, shall comply therewith. The
36 provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to cities having a popu-
37 lation of one million or more.
38 [9.] 5. No liability for the non-compliance with any of the
39 provisions of this section shall be imposed on professional engineers as
40 provided for in article one hundred forty-five of the education law,
41 architects as provided for in article one hundred forty-seven of such
42 law or landscape architects as provided for in article one hundred
43 forty-eight of such law who do not direct or control the work for activ-
44 ities other than planning and design. This exception shall not diminish
45 or extinguish any liability of professional engineers, architects or
46 landscape architects arising under the common law or any other provision
47 of law.
48 [10.] 6. Prior to advertising for bids or contracting for or commenc-
49 ing work on any demolition work on buildings covered under this section
50 except agricultural buildings as defined in regulations promulgated by
51 the commissioner and except buildings the construction of which was
52 begun on or after January first, nineteen hundred seventy-four, all
53 owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-family dwellings
54 who contract for but do not direct or control the work, shall conduct or
55 cause to be conducted a survey to determine whether or not the building
56 to be demolished contains asbestos or asbestos material as defined in
S. 1937 4
1 section nine hundred one of this chapter. Such surveys shall be
2 conducted in conformance with rules and regulations promulgated by the
3 commissioner. Information derived from such survey shall be immediately
4 transmitted to the commissioner and to the local governmental entity
5 charged with issuing a permit for such demolition under applicable state
6 or local laws or, if no such permit is required, to the town or city
7 clerk. If such survey finds that a building to be demolished contains
8 asbestos or asbestos material as defined by section nine hundred one of
9 [the] this chapter, no bids shall be advertised nor contracts awarded
10 nor demolition work commenced by any owner or agent prior to completion
11 of an asbestos remediation contract performed by a licensed asbestos
12 contractor as defined by section nine hundred one of this chapter.
13 § 3. Section 241-a of the labor law is REPEALED.
14 § 4. Subdivision 8 of section 1602 of the civil practice law and rules
15 is REPEALED.
16 § 5. The opening paragraph of subdivision 3 of section 30 of the labor
17 law, as added by chapter 162 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as
18 follows:
19 Except for variations concerning provisions, rules, codes, orders or
20 any other matter affecting asbestos projects or safety and health stand-
21 ards for public employees, including but not limited to projects covered
22 by article thirty and section twenty-seven-a and subdivision [ten] six
23 of section two hundred forty-one of this chapter;
24 § 6. Section 1603 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by
25 chapter 635 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
26 § 1603. Burdens of proof. In any action or claim for damages for
27 personal injury a party asserting that the limitations on liability set
28 forth in this article do not apply shall allege and prove by a prepon-
29 derance of the evidence that one or more of the exemptions set forth in
30 subdivision one of section sixteen hundred one [or section sixteen
31 hundred two] applies. A party asserting limited liability pursuant to
32 this article shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the
33 evidence its equitable share of the total liability.
34 § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.