(a)  Whenever a general contractor or a construction manager enters into a contract with a subcontractor for work to be performed in Rhode Island, the general contractor or construction manager shall at all times require written documentation evidencing that the subcontractor carries workers’ compensation insurance with no indebtedness for its employees for the term of the contract or is an independent contractor pursuant to the provisions of § 28-29-17.1. In the event that the general contractor or construction manager fails to obtain the written documentation from the subcontractor, the general contractor or construction manager shall be deemed to be the employer pursuant to provisions of § 28-29-2.

medical exam

Ask a workers compensation law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified workers compensation lawyers.
Claims, medical treatment, disability payments, termination, and more.
Get help with workers' comp forms, benefits, or employers' responsibilities
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-6.1

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Employee: means any person who has entered into the employment of or works under contract of service or apprenticeship with any employer, except that in the case of a city or town other than the city of Providence it shall only mean that class or those classes of employees as may be designated by a city, town, or regional school district in a manner provided in this chapter to receive compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
  • Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
  • Independent contractor: means a person who has filed a notice of designation as independent contractor with the director pursuant to Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.

(b)  For the purposes of this section, “construction manager” means an individual corporation, partnership, or joint venture or other legal entity responsible for supervising and controlling all aspects of construction work to be performed on the construction project, as designated in the project documents, in addition to the possibility of performing some of the construction services itself. For the purposes of this section, the construction manager need have no contractual involvement with any of the parties to the construction project other than the owner, or may contract directly with the trade contractors pursuant to its agreement with the owner.

(c)  This section only applies to a general contractor, subcontractor, or construction manager deemed an employer subject to the provisions of chapters 29 — 38 of this title, as provided in § 28-29-6.

(d)  Whenever the workers’ compensation insurance carrier is obligated to pay workers’ compensation benefits to the employee of an uninsured subcontractor, the workers’ compensation insurance carrier shall have a complete right of indemnification to the extent benefits are paid against either the uninsured subcontractor, uninsured general contractor, or uninsured construction manager.

History of Section.
P.L. 1994, ch. 385, § 1; P.L. 1995, ch. 38, § 1; P.L. 2000, ch. 491, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 388, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 395, § 1.