Law Number

ALM GL ch. 112 60Q

Summary Title

Good Samaritan Law: Design Professional

Summary

When an emergency declaration is in effect, an engineer, architect, environmental professional, landscape artist, planner, land surveyor, or contractor who, voluntarily and without compensation, provides their services within the scope of their professional abilities at the request of public official will not be held legally responsible for personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or loss caused by acts, errors, or omissions of their service. This legal protection is limited to incidents occuring up to 90 days after a natural disaster unless extended by an executive order. The state or locality requesting the services will not be held legally responsible for these services. Generally, Good Samaritan laws only offer protection for those individuals who provide care during spontaneous emergencies unrelated to volunteer deployment.

Full Title

Protection of Certain Persons Who Render Voluntary Services at the Scene of a Disaster or Catastrophe

Full Text

(b) (1) A professional engineer, architect, environmental professional, landscape architect, planner, land surveyor or contractor who voluntarily, without compensation and acting in good faith, provides structural, electrical, mechanical, or other engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, planning, land surveying, waste site cleanup, contracting or other professional design services related to a natural disaster or catastrophe at the request of or with the approval of a national, state or local public official, law enforcement official, public safety official, building inspection official or environmental official believed by the professional engineer, architect, environmental professional, landscape architect, planner or contractor to be acting in an official capacity, shall not be liable for any personal injury, wrongful death, property damage or other loss caused by the professional engineer’s, architect’s, environmental professional’s, landscape architect’s, planner’s, land surveyor’s or contractor’s acts, errors or omissions in the performance of an engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, planning, land surveying, waste site cleanup or contracting services for a site, structure, building, facility, project utility, equipment, machine, process, piping or other engineered system or infrastructure, either publicly or privately owned. (2) The immunity provided in this subsection shall apply only to the provision of voluntary engineering, architectural, environmental, landscape architectural, planning, land surveying, waste site cleanup, contracting, or other professional design services during the natural disaster or catastrophe or within 90 days of the end of the natural disaster or catastrophe, unless the period of emergency is extended by an executive order issued by the governor under the governor’s emergency executive powers. (3) Nothing in this subsection shall provide immunity for wanton, willful or intentional misconduct or gross negligence. (4) When a professional engineer, architect, environmental professional, landscape architect, planner, land surveyor or contractor voluntarily renders services at the request of or with the approval of a state or local employee or official and where such services fall within the ambit of the immunity provided in this subsection, the liability of the state or locality, if any, which requested the services shall not be affected by the provisions of this section.

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