22.7.7 Standard of Care Contractors|Employees.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

22.7.7 Standard of Care Contractors/Employees. A landowner who represents to a contractor that the premises are safe for the contractor’s activity is liable for injury to the contractor, notwithstanding the open or obvious nature of the dangers.¹⁰⁴ Thus, a contractor’s employee could recover for injuries sustained from a gasoline explosion where the landowner told the plaintiff that the burner and water heater were off, even though the plaintiff never checked to ensure that they were off.¹⁰⁵ But, the general rule that a landowner has no duty to warn of open and obvious dangers is “inapt where harm should be anticipated despite knowledge or obviousness of the danger,” for example the presence of high-voltage power lines and armed robbers.¹⁰⁶

It should be noted, however, that while a landowner might have a duty to warn about anticipated dangers, like high-voltage power lines, it appears that, in the construction context, general contractors do not have a duty to warn subcontractors’ employees about open and obvious dangers.¹⁰⁷

A landowner is liable for the negligence of a contractor after the work has been accepted; thus a storage shed company was liable for the...