Rhode Island General Laws 23-33-26. Civil liability for injuries resulting from noncompliance
In all cases in which any person shall suffer injury or in which the death of any person shall ensue in consequence of the failure of the lessee or owner or owners of any building to comply with the provisions of this chapter, or in consequence of the failure of the lessee or owner or owners to comply with the written notice and requirement of any compliance inspector, when made in conformity to the provisions of this chapter the lessee and owner or owners shall be jointly and severally liable to any person so injured in an action for damages for the injury; and in case of death the lessee and owner or owners shall be jointly and severally liable in damages for the injury caused by the death of the person, to be recovered by action in the same manner and for the benefit of the same persons as is provided in § 10-7-2; which action, when the lessee and the owner are nonresidents, may be commenced by attachment. It shall be no defense to the action that the person injured, or whose death ensues, had knowledge that any elevator or other device subject to the provisions of this chapter was being operated in the building contrary to the provisions of this chapter, or that the person continued to ride in or on the elevator or device with that knowledge.
History of Section.
G.L. 1896, ch. 108, § 16; P.L. 1902, ch. 973, § 2; C.P.A. 1905, § 1121; G.L. 1909, ch. 129, § 16; P.L. 1910, ch. 549, § 1; G.L. 1923, ch. 171, § 16; G.L. 1938, ch. 356, § 16; G.L. 1956, § 23-33-26; P.L. 1992, ch. 81, § 1.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 23-33-26
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Building: means any structure existing or hereafter erected in any part of this state except a private dwelling when used as such, and except any building located on a United States government reservation. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-33-1
- Compliance inspector: means an industrial safety technician (also known as a safety compliance inspector) who holds a certification as a qualified elevator inspector as required by the American society of mechanical engineers and is appointed by the director of labor and training under the provisions of chapter 20 of Title 28. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-33-1
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Elevator: means a hoisting and lowering mechanism equipped with a car or platform which moves in guides in a substantially vertical direction. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-33-1
- Owner: means any person owning, operating, or in charge or control of any elevator or escalator, or other device subject to the provisions of this chapter as defined in this section. See Rhode Island General Laws 23-33-1
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6