Construction Accident Lawyer: Job Site Injury Claims in Philadelphia and Delaware County

Can you sue a construction company after a job site injury?

Usually you can't sue your own employer, but you often can sue another company on the site whose carelessness caused the injury. Pennsylvania's Workers' Compensation Act makes comp your employer's exclusive liability, and it also bars suits against co-workers except for intentional wrongs. It does not protect a general contractor, another trade's subcontractor, an equipment rental company or a property owner that isn't your employer.

That second claim matters because workers' comp pays only medical care and part of your lost wages. A third-party personal injury claim can also cover full lost earnings, loss of future earning ability, and pain and suffering.

Step one: the workers' comp claim

Report the injury to your foreman or employer right away, with the date, place and how it happened. Under the Act, if notice isn't given within 21 days, benefits aren't owed until notice is given, and if it isn't given within 120 days the claim is generally lost.

Comp covers reasonable, necessary treatment related to the injury and wage loss of about two-thirds of your average weekly wage, up to the state maximum ($1,394.00 a week for injuries on or after January 1, 2026). A permanent loss of use of a hand, arm, leg or eye can also qualify for specific loss benefits. Our PA workers' comp benefits guide explains how each benefit is calculated.

If you worked for a subcontractor that had no comp insurance, don't assume you're out of luck. Under Section 302 of the Act, a contractor who subcontracted the work can be liable for comp to the subcontractor's employees when the subcontractor didn't secure coverage, and the Uninsured Employer Guaranty Fund exists for workers whose employer had none.

Step two: third-party claims against contractors and property owners

A construction site is shared by many companies, each responsible for its own work and some responsible for the whole site. Parties who may be liable, depending on the facts:

• A general contractor or construction manager that controlled site safety, scheduling or fall protection
• Another subcontractor whose crew created the hazard, such as an unguarded floor opening or a load dropped from above
• A property owner or developer that kept control over the work or knew of a dangerous condition
• An equipment rental company that supplied a scaffold, lift or machine that wasn't maintained or set up safely
• A driver who hit you in a work zone, or a delivery truck that backed into you on site

The statutory employer question

Pennsylvania has a rule that sometimes treats a general contractor as the employer of a subcontractor's workers for comp purposes. Under Sections 203 and 302 of the Act, a contractor who hires out part of its regular business on premises it controls can be responsible for comp to those workers. When a contractor is treated as a statutory employer, it may also be shielded from a lawsuit the way a direct employer is.

Whether that applies depends on the contracts, who controlled the site and what work was being done. It's one of the first things a lawyer should sort out, because it decides who can be sued.

Common construction accidents and the safety rules behind them

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration identifies four hazards behind a large share of construction deaths, which it calls the Focus Four. OSHA's construction standards in 29 CFR Part 1926 set rules for each, and a violation can be evidence that a contractor didn't take reasonable care.

• Falls from roofs, ladders, scaffolds, and unprotected edges or floor openings
• Struck-by injuries from falling tools and materials, swinging loads, and vehicles or equipment
• Caught-in or caught-between injuries, including trench collapses and being pinned by machinery
• Electrocution from overhead lines, buried utilities and unsafe temporary wiring

Injuries we see after job site accidents

Construction falls and crush injuries often cause fractures, spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputations and burns. Many of these injuries end a worker's career in the trades even after the bones heal. That's why the long-term picture matters: whether you can go back to the same work, and what your earnings would have been, drives the value of a third-party claim.

Get treatment and follow it. Tell every provider the injury happened at work. Keep your pay stubs, your union or employer paperwork and the names of the crews on site.

Evidence disappears fast on a construction site

Sites change daily. Guardrails go back up, scaffolds get moved and the ladder that failed goes back into service. Do what you safely can, or have someone do it for you:

• Photograph the spot where you were hurt and the equipment involved
• Write down the names of the general contractor, the other trades on site and any witnesses
• Keep a copy of the incident report and any safety meeting sign-in sheets
• Ask a lawyer to send preservation letters for the equipment, site logs and camera footage

How comp and a third-party claim fit together

The two claims run on separate tracks. The comp claim goes before a workers' compensation judge. The third-party claim is a lawsuit, usually filed in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in Media or the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and it generally must be filed within two years of the injury under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524. Shorter notice deadlines apply if a government agency is involved, including a six-month written notice requirement under 42 Pa.C.S. § 5522.

If the third-party case succeeds, the comp insurer is generally entitled to be repaid for the benefits it paid, under Section 319 of the Act, after sharing proportionally in the attorney fees and costs. Anything left over goes to you and counts as an advance against future comp. Handling both claims together helps keep the lien from eating a recovery.

In a third-party case, Pennsylvania's comparative negligence law (42 Pa.C.S. § 7102) can reduce your recovery by your share of fault, and bars it if your share is greater than the combined fault of the defendants. Contractors often argue that the worker ignored safety rules, so the evidence of how the site was run matters.

Talk to a lawyer about your job site injury

Warren Siegel has practiced law in Pennsylvania since 1992 and works from the firm's office at 8000 West Chester Pike in Upper Darby, serving injured workers across Delaware County and West Philadelphia. He has served as a court-appointed arbitrator and a Settlement Master for the Court of Common Pleas, so he has seen how these claims are valued from the other side of the table.

There is no attorney fee unless we recover, and the firm advances case costs, which are repaid only from a recovery. If you were hurt on a construction site, call (267) 412-4601 or send the free case review form.