Georgia recently broadened its anti-indemnity statute (O.C.G.A. § 13-8-2) as it applies to contracts for engineering, architectural, and/or land surveying services.
Prior to the recent amendment, Georgia’s anti-indemnity statute precluded any indemnity provisions in construction related contracts that required one party (the indemnitor) to indemnify another party (the indemnitee) for bodily injury or property damage caused by the sole negligence of the indemnitee. The amendment adds a new provision specifically applying only to engineering, architectural and/or land surveying services contracts that precludes indemnity for liability other than that caused by the indemnitor’s negligence.
There are two noteworthy differences between the new indemnity restrictions created for engineering, architectural, and land-surveying services contracts and the pre-existing indemnity restrictions for all other construction related contracts:
- The anti-indemnity statute for construction related contracts applies only to liability arising out of bodily injury or property damage. There is no such limitation for engineering, architectural, or land-surveying services contracts.
- In a construction related contract, a party may seek full indemnity where both parties are negligent. In comparison, in engineering, architectural, and land-surveying services contracts, a party may now only seek indemnity for the portion of damages caused by the other party’s negligence.
A copy of the amended statute can be viewed by clicking here. For more information on this statutory change, please contact Nicole Bikakis at ncb@sdvlaw.com.