Philadelphia Building Collapse Lawyers

Injuries From Collapse Accidents

When a building collapses, entrapment and crushing injuries cause a serious amount of damage. However, there are a number of other serious dangers that could possibly occur, including death.

In incidents where toxic fumes are released as a result of a collapse, asphyxiation and chemical exposure can also be serious health hazards. When infrastructure is damaged during a collapse, electrical and gas lines can be damaged, leading to electrocutions and explosions.

As you can see, there are a number of serious dangers that can be caused by building collapse accidents, leading to catastrophic injuries. For this reason, building collapses can result in large scale death and injury, as well as causing injury to those who were not even in the building and who were simply passing-by. That’s why inspections and building codes exist, and all parties involved must take the safety of their workers or residents seriously and prioritize safety precautions as much as humanly possible.

Building Collapse Lawsuits

People in buildings that collapse because of negligence can make claims against the owners of the buildings, as well as other parties that may have played a role in the building collapsing. There a number of reasons why a building or section of a building might collapse including:

• Structural weaknesses: When building codes aren’t adhered to, undertrained workers are used, and subpar materials are used in the structure, especially the foundation, of the building may be flawed
• Bearing too much weight: buildings are only engineered to withstand a certain weight, when they try to bear a load that’s too great (like construction equipment) this can cause collapses
• FAILURE TO TEST – Even if everything seems fine, the architectural plan makes sense and the materials are good, a building has to be fully tested to ensure that it is safe. Building codes require this kind of testing but it is often ignored

Bringing a collapse lawsuit against an employer or third party requires a number of items to be successful. You’ll need expert witnesses with knowledge on building collapses to testify about the conditions (methods used, soil types, the weather’s impact) leading up to the accident. This testimony will be used to show that the accident was caused by negligence on the part of the employer or other party.

Building collapses cases can be highly complex, since there sometimes many liable parties involved!

Compensation for Building Collapse Accidents

While the dangers posed by a potential collapse accident are great and require a great deal of caution on the part of a management team, it’s all too common for these companies/contractors to put profits over the safety of their workers and residents.

When third parties fail to protect their workers or residents, there are a number of ways for them or their families to get compensation for the injuries they suffered including:

• Workers compensation
• Third-party lawsuits
• Labor lawsuits
• Personal injury lawsuits
• Negligence lawsuits

An experienced personal injury lawyer can help you navigate all of your legal options and help you decide what the best option is for your particular circumstance.