In New York, construction workers injured on the job may be entitled to compensation beyond workers' compensation through Labor Law Section 240, which holds property owners and general contractors strictly liable for gravity-related injuries such as falls from scaffolding, ladders, and roofs. Construction accident settlements in New York typically range from $300,000 for moderate fracture injuries to $3 million or more when a Labor Law violation causes permanent disability or requires multiple surgeries. Porter Law Group has recovered over $500 million for injured New Yorkers across our offices in Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, and Syracuse. Call 833-PORTER9 for a free, confidential case review, available 24/7.
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A construction accident in New York is not like most personal injury cases. You may have two separate legal paths available to you at the same time: a workers' compensation claim and a personal injury lawsuit against parties other than your employer. Navigating both at once, without missing any deadlines, is difficult to do alone when you are also recovering from a serious injury.
A New York construction accident attorney can step in and handle the process from the beginning. That means gathering evidence from the job site before it disappears, identifying every party that may share responsibility, and making sure your rights under New York Labor Law are properly asserted. Insurance companies and property owners move quickly to protect themselves after an accident. Having legal representation early gives you a real chance to match that response.
Porter Law Group works on a contingency-fee basis. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
New York construction sites are among the most active and most regulated in the country, yet serious accidents continue to happen every year. According to the New York State Department of Labor, construction remains one of the most dangerous industries for workers in the state. The most common causes of construction accidents that lead to injury claims include:
Falls from heights. Scaffolding collapses, ladder failures, roof edges without guardrails, and open floor holes are among the leading causes of construction fatalities and serious injuries. New York's Scaffold Law (Labor Law Section 240) was created specifically to address this category of accident.
New York has some of the strongest worker protection laws in the country, and understanding them is key to knowing what your options are after a construction accident.
Labor Law Section 240 is commonly called the Scaffold Law. It applies when a worker is injured because of a gravity-related hazard on a construction site, such as a fall from a height or being struck by a falling object. What makes this law different from most personal injury claims is that it creates strict liability. That means if your injury resulted from a violation of this law, the property owner or general contractor can be held responsible regardless of whether they were directly at the scene or directly at fault.
Labor Law Section 241(6) applies to construction, demolition, and excavation work. It requires property owners and contractors to follow specific safety regulations set by the New York Industrial Code. If a safety rule was violated and that violation caused your injury, you may have a claim under this section.
Labor Law Section 200 is essentially a codification of basic negligence principles as they apply to construction sites. It covers cases where a dangerous condition on the site, or the way work was directed and supervised, contributed to the accident.
Beyond these three statutes, liability in a construction accident can also extend to equipment manufacturers (if a defective product contributed), subcontractors whose work created the hazard, and in some cases, property owners who were not actively overseeing the work but still controlled the premises. Identifying every party who may share responsibility is one of the most important things a construction accident attorney does in these cases.
The injuries that result from construction accidents tend to be serious. Many require surgery, months of physical therapy, and in some cases permanent adjustments to how a person lives and works.
Traumatic brain injury is one of the most serious outcomes of a fall or a struck-by accident on a construction site. Even when a worker is wearing a hard hat, the force of hitting the ground or being struck can cause lasting damage to brain function, including memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and chronic symptoms that affect daily life for years.
Spinal cord injuries range from herniated discs requiring surgery to complete injuries resulting in paralysis. A fall from a scaffold or roof that lands a worker on their back or neck can compress or sever the spinal cord, affecting movement and sensation in the legs, arms, or the entire body below the point of injury.
Fractured and broken bones are common in falls and equipment accidents. Many construction-related fractures involve multiple breaks or damaged joints that require surgical hardware and six months to a year of recovery. Some workers are never able to perform the same physical work they did before.
Crush injuries and traumatic amputations occur when a worker is caught in machinery, struck by a vehicle, or pinned under a collapsing structure. When a limb cannot be saved, the physical, emotional, and financial impact extends for the rest of that person's life.
Severe burns from electrical contact, fires, or explosions require extended treatment including multiple surgeries, skin grafts, and long-term wound care, often leaving permanent scarring. Internal injuries to the lungs, spleen, or liver from high-impact incidents can also be life-threatening when not immediately treated.
If you were supporting a family before the accident, the financial pressure of being unable to return to the same job can be overwhelming. A personal injury claim is one of the few legal tools that allows recovery for the full scope of those losses, not just medical bills.
When a construction accident claim is successful, compensation generally falls into three categories.
Economic damages cover the financial losses that are easiest to document. These include past and future medical bills, lost wages from time missed at work, loss of future earning capacity if your injuries prevent you from returning to your previous work, and the cost of ongoing rehabilitation or home care.
Non-economic damages cover the losses that do not show up on a bill but are very real. Pain and suffering, emotional distress, the loss of activities you could do before the accident, and the impact on your relationships with your spouse and family are all recognized categories of compensation in New York. There is no statutory cap on non-economic damages in personal injury cases in New York.
Punitive damages are uncommon in construction accident cases, but may apply when a party's conduct was reckless or showed a conscious disregard for worker safety.
Workers' compensation runs alongside these claims in most situations. Your employer's workers' comp insurance covers a portion of your medical costs and lost wages regardless of fault. A third-party personal injury lawsuit allows you to recover what workers' compensation does not, including pain and suffering and full wage replacement. Our attorneys handle both tracks simultaneously to help you recover the maximum available.
Case value depends on injury severity, the strength of the Labor Law claims, and the financial impact on the injured worker and their family. The table below reflects typical outcomes seen in New York construction accident cases.
| Case Profile | Typical Settlement Range |
| Moderate fractures, surgery required, full recovery | $300,000 to $750,000 |
| Serious injuries, partial disability, extended recovery | $750,000 to $2,000,000 |
| Permanent disability, inability to return to prior work | $2,000,000 to $5,000,000 |
| Catastrophic injury (paralysis, severe brain injury, amputation) | $5,000,000 or more |
| Wrongful death from a construction accident | $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 or more |
Labor Law 240 cases often produce higher recoveries than standard negligence claims because the strict liability standard removes the burden of proving that the property owner or contractor was negligent in the traditional sense. Cases where a clear Labor Law violation directly caused the injury tend to resolve with stronger outcomes.
You can review examples of what Porter Law Group has recovered for injured clients on our Results page.
The actions you take in the hours and days after an accident can directly affect your ability to recover compensation. If you are able to do any of the following, do them as soon as possible.
Contact a New York construction accident lawyer as soon as possible. Evidence from construction sites disappears fast, and certain deadlines apply to different types of claims.
Get medical attention right away. Even if your injuries feel manageable, some serious conditions, including internal injuries and traumatic brain injuries, do not show symptoms immediately. A medical record created on the day of the accident documents your injuries for your claim.
Report the accident to your supervisor or site manager. This creates a formal record and starts the workers' compensation process.
Document what you can at the scene. Photographs of the area where you were injured, the equipment involved, any missing guardrails or safety equipment, and the surrounding conditions are valuable evidence. This is especially true because job sites change quickly after an accident.
Collect contact information from witnesses. Coworkers or bystanders who saw what happened can provide important testimony later. Get their names and phone numbers before you leave the site.
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company without speaking to an attorney first. Insurance adjusters for the property owner or general contractor may contact you quickly. What you say can be used to reduce or deny your claim.
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Most personal injury claims arising from construction accidents in New York must be filed within three years of the date of the accident under the general statute of limitations. Wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death.
If your accident involved a government entity, such as a city-owned building or a municipality-managed project, a Notice of Claim must be filed within 90 days of the accident. Missing that 90-day deadline typically ends any claim against that entity, regardless of how strong the underlying case is.
Workers' compensation claims have their own timing requirements. You should report the injury to your employer within 30 days and file a workers' compensation claim within two years. These deadlines run alongside the personal injury deadlines, not instead of them.
Because multiple deadlines apply to different aspects of a construction accident case, speaking with a lawyer quickly after your injury is the safest approach. An attorney can identify which deadlines apply to your specific situation and make sure none of them are missed.
Porter Law Group represents injured construction workers across all of New York State from offices in Albany, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, and Syracuse. Our team has recovered over $500 million for injured New Yorkers, and construction accidents are a significant part of that record.
No fee unless we win. All construction accident cases are taken on a contingency basis. You pay nothing out of pocket, and our fee is collected only if we win.
Free consultations, available 24/7. We come to you when you cannot travel, with hospital and home visits available statewide.
Direct attorney access. You will speak with the attorney handling your case throughout the process. Meet our team on the Attorneys and Staff page, read client experiences on the Testimonials page, and review case outcomes on our Results page.
Yes, in many New York construction accident cases. Workers' compensation only pays benefits from your employer's insurance and does not allow you to sue your employer directly in most situations. However, if other parties, such as the property owner, general contractor, a subcontractor, or an equipment manufacturer, contributed to the accident, you may bring a separate personal injury lawsuit against them. These third-party claims allow recovery for pain and suffering and full lost wages, which workers' compensation alone does not cover. Many injured construction workers pursue both at the same time.
New York Labor Law Section 240, known as the Scaffold Law, applies when a construction worker is injured due to a gravity-related hazard on a job site, such as a fall from a height or being struck by a falling object. The law holds property owners and general contractors strictly liable for these injuries, meaning they can be held responsible even if they were not directly at fault. Whether the law applies depends on the specific facts of your accident, the type of work you were doing, and who controlled the site. A construction accident attorney can evaluate those facts and tell you whether a Labor Law 240 claim is available in your situation.
There is no single answer because every case depends on different facts. The factors that matter most are how seriously you were injured, whether a Labor Law violation was involved, how your injuries affect your ability to earn a living going forward, and how many parties share responsibility. Cases involving Labor Law 240 violations tend to produce stronger outcomes than ordinary negligence claims because the strict liability standard shifts the burden significantly toward the property owner or contractor. A free consultation with an attorney who has reviewed your specific facts is the only reliable way to get a realistic estimate.
New York follows a pure comparative fault rule, which means your compensation is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to you, but not eliminated entirely. If you were found 20 percent at fault in a case valued at $1 million, you would still recover $800,000. For Labor Law 240 claims, the strict liability standard makes contributory negligence a very limited defense. An attorney can explain how fault applies to your specific situation.
Porter Law Group handles construction accident cases on a contingency-fee basis. That means you pay nothing upfront and nothing out of pocket during the case. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery at the end, and only collected if we win. If we do not recover compensation for you, you owe us nothing.
Founder and managing partner of Porter Law Group. Harvard University (B.A., 1994), Syracuse University College of Law (J.D., 1997). Former U.S. Army JAG Corps Captain, Airborne Training School graduate. Super Lawyers 14 consecutive years, 10.0 Superb on Avvo, Distinguished rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Over 20 years of trial experience and $500 million in recoveries.
Reviewed by Michael S. Porter, J.D. | Last updated: [April, 2026]
Porter Law Group represents injured construction workers throughout New York State. No matter where your accident happened, our attorneys are ready to help.
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If you or a loved one was injured on a construction site anywhere in New York, Porter Law Group is ready to help. We will review what happened, explain how New York Labor Law applies to your situation, identify every party that may be responsible, and outline your next steps. There is no cost and no obligation to retain our firm.
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