Your Maryland contractor cannot delegate his building code responsibilities.

Maryland's Court of Special Appeals has made clear what construction law practitioners have been arguing in the trial courts for a long time -- A general contractor or developer may not delegate its responsibility to comply with building codes to sub-contractors.


On May 31, 2017 the COSA decided Marrick Homes v. Rutkowski, an appeal from a very large money judgment by a trial court in favor of a severely injured homeowner against a general contractor. Mr. Rutkowski fell thirteen feet when a protective railing across a patio door opening failed. He broke bones and sustained a head injury. Expert witnesses explained that the wrong nails were used to secure the protective railing to the house, and that the connections failed when Mr. Rutkowski placed his weight against the railing. The railing did not comply with local building codes.

The work was done by a subcontractor of the defendant at least seven years before, when the house was owned by someone else. Mr. Rutkowski had even been living in the house for several months before he fell.

Attacking a void judgment in Maryland has no time limits.

Statutes of limitations prevent successful lawsuits that are too old. For example, a lawsuit for money damages filed more than three years after a car accident is too late because the statute of limitations.

But lawsuits don't always demand money damages. Claims can be made for injunctive relief (asking the court to stop something from happening) or for declaratory relief (asking the court to determine a legal obligation). These non-money damage claims are not restricted by statutes of limitations.

The distinction is very important where you are attacking the validity of an old judgment entered against you. It may be that you were not properly served, that your identity was hacked, or that the process of taking a judgment against you was somehow improper or unfair. It may be years before you discover the existence of the judgment on your credit report, or perhaps when you move to a new job.

A lawyer's help before a deal is made in Maryland can avoid future disputes.