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Those who work in the construction industry are generally represented by legal counsel for the provincial Workers’ Compensation Board where the accident took place.
Most injured construction workers in Nova Scotia are told workers' compensation is their only option, and for many, that is not the whole truth. WCB benefits generally bar lawsuits against your employer and co-workers, but a construction site accident lawyer looks at everyone else on the site: other contractors, equipment suppliers, property owners, and designers.
Where a party outside your employment relationship caused your injuries, a separate lawsuit can recover what WCB never pays, including full income loss and pain and suffering. Wagners has acted for injured Nova Scotians since 1982. Tell a Halifax construction accident lawyer at our firm what happened on site, and one free conversation will tell you whether you have that second claim.
The answer depends on who controlled the hazard, because Halifax construction sites layer multiple companies onto one project. The Workers' Compensation Act restricts claims within the covered employment system, yet third parties frequently remain exposed. A construction worker injury claim in Nova Scotia can proceed against parties such as:
Fall protection is required wherever the fall distance is three metres or more above the nearest safe surface, under Part 21 of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations made under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Those regulations require a guardrail, a fall-arrest system or another listed means of protection, and they require training. When scaffolding collapses or an anchor point fails, those rules become the measuring stick for negligence, and a breach by a party outside your employment can anchor a lawsuit.
Ground-level hazards injure workers too, from debris and unguarded openings to the same conditions behind ordinary slip and fall accidents on any property. Struck-by incidents, trench collapses, electrocution, and crane and hoist failures round out the pattern we see across Halifax's building boom.
The injuries from these events are rarely minor, and many end careers in the trades. Where a worker is killed on site, the family's claim runs under the Fatal Injuries Act on a 12-month deadline, which is much shorter than the two years most people assume.
Construction cases demand a firm that can untangle multi-party sites and fund serious litigation, and that is our practice. Since Ray Wagner founded the firm in Halifax in 1982, we have acted for seriously injured Nova Scotians, and our lawyers are recognized by Best Lawyers and ranked by Lexpert.
We handle serious workplace injuries on a no-win, no-fee basis, advancing every case cost ourselves, and one lawyer runs your file from start to finish. If a third party may have caused your injury, send us the details before you file an election.
Discover the real-world challenges facing victims in this story of a worker rebuilding after a hit-and-run.
Explore our coverage of the recent Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal privacy breach to stay informed on institutional accountability in Nova Scotia.
Injured workers usually ask us these questions first.
Usually you have to choose. Where a third party is responsible, the Act requires a written election filed with the Board within 180 days of the accident, and if you elect benefits the Board may pursue the claim and recover what it has already paid, which is called subrogation. Speak to a lawyer well before that deadline, because it cannot be extended.
Your lawsuit rights may actually be broader, since the statutory bar protects covered employers and workers. Coverage status on Nova Scotia sites varies more than people assume. Bring your contract, and we will confirm where you stand.
No, but a proven breach of fall protection or OHS rules is strong evidence of negligence. Civil claims still require connecting the breach to your injuries. Regulatory findings and our own investigation work together on that.
Yes, Nova Scotia divides responsibility rather than erasing claims, so your compensation is reduced by your share of fault. Worker fault is often overstated in these files, and contesting that percentage is part of the job.
Generally two years under the Limitation of Actions Act, but on a construction claim the 180-day election deadline usually comes first and is the one that cannot move. Multi-party construction claims also take time to investigate properly. Earlier is always safer.
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