Personal Injury News – CA Supreme Court To Decide OSHA Regulations Applicable To Owner/Builders Performing Construction

Today we had argued a case before the Supreme Court of California.  The name of the case is entitled Cortez vs. Abich. The issue is whether a homeowner who acts as the owner/builder and performs construction on his home in the form of adding a new roof, converting a car port to a garage, adding a new master bedroom and bath, must comply with the Cal-OSHA regulations so as to reduce the risk of any workers from getting injured. 

Generally speaking, the Section 6303(b) of the  California Labor Code states that OSHA applies to virtually every type of trade , practice, project, excavation, demolition, and construction work, except “household domestic service”.  The issue really before the court is what encompasses a “household domestic service”.  We argued that full blown construction is not something that falls within the purview of “household domestic service”.  Such things as gardening, caring for children, house cleaning, etc… would fall within that exception since these are types of activities one could ordinarily do themselves.  However, construction is not something that we generally see homeowners perform themselves.  That is usually given to licensed contractors who are familiar with planning, architecture, permits, and safety.  If a homeowner wishes to embark on such endeavor, then he or she is simply going to be held to the standard of a licensed contractor and must comply with OSHA.  

We will have to wait and see what the Supreme Court opines.