Construction Accident

In California, liability for a construction accident can extend far beyond your direct employer — general contractors, subcontractors, property owners, equipment manufacturers, and even architects or engineers may all bear legal responsibility under theories of negligence, premises liability, or product liability. California Labor Code Section 6400 requires employers to provide a safe working environment, and violations of Cal/OSHA regulations can be used as direct evidence of negligence against multiple parties. At Mendez & Sanchez, our attorneys conduct thorough investigations to identify every liable party so that you recover the maximum compensation available to you.

In California, most personal injury claims arising from a construction accident must be filed within 2 years of the date of injury under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1 — if you miss this deadline, you permanently lose your right to sue. However, if a government entity owns or controls the construction site, you must file a government tort claim within just 6 months under the California Government Claims Act before you can pursue a lawsuit. Acting quickly is critical, so contact a construction accident attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights.

In most cases, California's workers' compensation system — governed by California Labor Code Section 3600 — is the exclusive remedy against your direct employer, meaning you generally cannot sue them directly in civil court. However, you may still file a personal injury lawsuit against third parties such as a general contractor, a subcontractor you don't work for, an equipment manufacturer, or a negligent property owner, which can result in significantly higher compensation than workers' comp alone. California workers' comp covers medical bills, lost wages, and permanent disability, but a third-party civil claim can also recover pain and suffering damages, which workers' comp does not provide.

The value of a construction accident claim in California depends on factors including the severity of your injuries, your total medical expenses, lost wages, future earning capacity, and the degree of permanent impairment — serious cases involving catastrophic injuries routinely result in settlements or verdicts worth hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. In a third-party personal injury claim, you can recover both economic damages like medical bills and lost income and non-economic damages like pain and suffering, with no statutory cap in most construction accident cases. At Mendez & Sanchez, we have recovered millions of dollars for injured construction workers throughout East Los Angeles and across California, and we fight to make sure you receive every dollar you're entitled to.

The most important steps after a construction accident are: seek emergency medical attention immediately even if you feel the injury is minor, report the accident to your employer or site supervisor in writing to create an official record, and document the scene with photos or video if you are physically able to do so. You should also preserve any equipment, tools, or machinery involved in the accident, gather contact information from witnesses, and avoid giving recorded statements to any insurance company before speaking with an attorney. Contact a construction accident lawyer as soon as possible — evidence on active construction sites can disappear quickly, and early legal intervention is often the difference between a full recovery and a denied claim.

One of the most common and costly mistakes is failing to report your injury promptly — under California Labor Code Section 5400, you must notify your employer within 30 days or risk losing your workers' compensation benefits entirely. Many injured workers also make the mistake of accepting a quick settlement from an insurance company before the full extent of their injuries is known, often leaving significant compensation on the table, particularly for long-term or permanent conditions. Finally, attempting to navigate both the workers' compensation system and a potential third-party personal injury claim without legal representation frequently results in procedural errors and far lower recoveries than an experienced attorney would obtain.

Construction accident cases in California are among the most legally complex personal injury matters because they often involve overlapping workers' compensation claims, third-party civil lawsuits, Cal/OSHA regulatory violations, and multiple insurance carriers — each with their own legal teams working to minimize your payout. Studies consistently show that injured workers represented by attorneys recover substantially more compensation than those who proceed alone, and at Mendez & Sanchez, we handle cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we win your case. Given the 2-year statute of limitations under CCP 335.1 and the 6-month deadline for government claims, the sooner you speak with a construction accident attorney, the better protected your rights will be.