In construction projects in Florida, if someone does something wrong that causes damage or injury, certain people like contractors and architects agree to take responsibility for it in their contracts. Some people think this is not fair and shouldn’t be allowed, while others think it’s okay because the people signing the contracts should understand what they’re agreeing to. It’s a debate about whether it’s fair to hold someone responsible for someone else’s mistakes, especially when they agree to it in a contract. Some people think indemnity clauses in contracts should have limits and warnings about holding someone harmless from their own wrongful acts. Florida law has changed over the years, and now indemnity clauses in construction contracts need to have a minimum limit of $1,000,000 per occurrence and have other limits on intentional, reckless, and wanton acts. Between 1972 and 2000, there was a law that said you could only be reimbursed for someone else’s mistakes if you had specific language in your contract and bid documents. If you didn’t have that language, you couldn’t be reimbursed. It was important to pay attention to these rules when making contracts. In 1999, Florida architects and contractors worked on a bill to make clauses in contracts with public agencies unenforceable if they involved excessive liability. The bill passed and became law in 2000. The law stated that contracts for indemnity from negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct could be enforced, but any other indemnity would not be enforced. This law applied to contracts between owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and materialmen. Another law limited indemnity for design professionals in contracts with public agencies. These laws went into effect in 2000 and 2001. The 2000 amendments to the laws about indemnity in construction contracts caused a lot of concern for private construction owners. They didn’t like that they could only be indemnified for negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of the other party. They didn’t think it was fair. So, they lobbied the government to change the laws. In 2001, the laws were changed again to make both parties responsible for their own wrongful acts in private contracts. However, there are still some conditions that have to be met for the indemnity to be valid. Overall, the laws are still a bit confusing and not everyone is happy with them. In simple terms, the law limits the amount of money that a construction company or design professional can be held responsible for if something goes wrong. This is to make sure that both parties are protected and that insurance companies are responsible for covering most of the costs for any accidents or damage. If the parties want to assign the risk to one party, they should make sure that party has insurance to cover it. This is a better way to manage the risk than requiring specific language in a contract. A few committee members think that people should be able to decide for themselves if they want to get insurance for risks in contracts. They believe it shouldn’t be required by the government. There are different laws about this in different states. The decision to change the law about this in Florida is interesting. It mainly applies to licensed architects, engineers, and other design professionals. The law sets limits on how much money can be involved in these types of contracts. This article was written by a lawyer who is an expert in construction law. It was submitted on behalf of a section of lawyers who focus on real property, probate, and trust law. The article talks about the principles of duty and service to the public, and the administration of justice.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/contractual-indemnity-in-construction-for-your-negligencewhat-year-is-it/
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