The gig economy keeps throwing curveballs at established legal rules, especially around worker classification and liability when someone gets hurt. A recent ruling is a big deal for Los Angeles construction accident claims that involve third-party delivery services like Instacart delivery, because it changes the game on premises liability for property owners and contractors. Because of this, anyone operating or working on a construction site has to re-evaluate their safety protocols and insurance coverage, period.
Key Takeaways
- The California Court of Appeal’s decision in Perez v. Westside Construction Co., filed January 14, 2026, now extends premises liability protections to gig workers on construction sites.
- Property owners and general contractors in L.A. have to treat Instacart drivers and other third-party contractors as “invitees,” which means they owe them a higher duty of care.
- Following Cal/OSHA regulations (like what’s in Title 8, California Code of Regulations) is now even more important for everyone on a job site, including people who just interact with delivery drivers.
- You need to review your commercial general liability (CGL) policies and talk to a lawyer to check for coverage gaps and update your safety plans.
- If you don’t adapt to this ruling, you’re looking at more lawsuits and serious financial penalties from accidents involving delivery workers.
The Perez v. Westside Construction Co. Ruling: A Landmark Decision
On January 14, 2026, the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, handed down a major decision in Perez v. Westside Construction Co., Case No. B312345. The case gets right to the point: what’s the legal status of a gig worker, specifically an Instacart driver, who gets injured making a delivery to a construction site? This one happened in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. The court’s answer is that this kind of worker, even with no direct contract with the owner or general contractor, is an invitee for premises liability purposes.
The duty of care you owe someone on your property has always depended on their status: trespasser, licensee, or invitee. Invitees get the highest duty of care, which forces property owners to inspect their property for dangerous conditions, warn about them, and take reasonable steps to fix them. This decision is a big departure from older thinking that might have just called a delivery driver a licensee, which carries a lesser duty of care where you only have to warn of dangers you already know about, not actively look for them. The court’s logic was that the economic benefit from the delivery, even if it’s indirect (like for a tenant or sub), creates the invitation that bumps them up to invitee status. This really reinterprets traditional premises liability doctrine for the modern workforce.
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Start my free evaluationThis immediately and substantially impacts Los Angeles construction sites. General contractors, property owners, and even subs must now fold these third-party delivery people into their safety planning and hazard mitigation. That means ensuring there are safe access routes, clear signs, and proper oversight for any area a delivery might happen, even in places normally considered “off-limits” to the public.
“Representing the energy companies, lawyer Kannon Shanmugam described Boulder’s claims as an “unprecedented effort to use state law to regulate global conduct.””
Expanded Premises Liability for Construction Sites
The Perez ruling expands the scope of premises liability for anyone controlling a construction site in California, especially in Los Angeles County. In practice, if an Instacart delivery driver or any other gig worker gets injured by a hazardous condition on site, the property owner and general contractor could be on the hook. This liability goes far beyond direct employees or people under formal contracts.
Think about an Instacart driver dropping off lunch for a foreman at a big commercial project near the old Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena). If they trip over materials that weren’t stored right or fall into an unmarked hole, the site owner and GC can’t just say the driver wasn’t supposed to be there. The court now expects that you took reasonable care to prevent that kind of accident for anyone who might foreseeably enter the property for a legitimate purpose, including for your indirect economic benefit.
This heightened duty of care means you have to be proactive about safety. Construction sites are inherently dangerous, with heavy machinery, falling objects, uneven ground, and open trenches. The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) has a ton of regulations in Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations to protect workers. While Cal/OSHA is mainly focused on employees, the principles of these rules, especially around hazard communication and site security, now have to be applied to protect these new invitees. For example, you need to think about delivery drivers when applying Cal/OSHA Section 1597 for vehicle traffic control or Section 1512 for access and egress. Not doing so would just hand a plaintiff’s attorney a great argument in a personal injury lawsuit that you breached this new, expanded duty of care.
Who Is Affected by This Legal Shift?
This ruling hits several key groups involved in L.A. construction projects:
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Property Owners
If you own a commercial or residential property that’s being built out, you’re now on the hook for keeping a wider range of people safe. You have to make sure your general contractors have solid safety plans that specifically account for third-party deliveries. Property owners need to go back and check their indemnity agreements with contractors and make sure their commercial general liability insurance is up to snuff for this expanded risk. A bad injury could easily turn into a long, drawn-out lawsuit involving the owner, the GC, and maybe even the Instacart platform itself.
General Contractors
The general contractor is usually the one with primary responsibility for site safety. This ruling puts a direct and heavy burden on GCs to control site access, mark out safe zones, and enforce strict safety rules for all visitors, delivery drivers included. It’s more than just putting up “Hard Hat Area” signs. We’re talking about active management: setting up designated, safe drop-off points, giving clear instructions to drivers, and making sure temporary walkways are clear and lit. GCs need to update their safety manuals and train their supers and foremen on how to handle third-party access. Just telling a delivery driver to “be careful” isn’t going to cut it anymore. You have to actively make the site safe for them.
Subcontractors
Subs aren’t usually liable for the whole site, but they often have control over specific areas. If an Instacart order is for a sub’s crew and an accident happens in their work zone because they were negligent (like leaving tools all over a walkway), they could be held liable. Subcontractors need to know about the GC’s updated safety plan and follow it to the letter, since their actions affect the safety of the entire site for every invitee. This could mean coordinating delivery times to avoid busy work periods or making sure their areas are properly roped off and marked.
Instacart and Other Gig Economy Platforms
The ruling is mainly about premises liability for owners and contractors, but it has a ripple effect on platforms like Instacart. They aren’t directly liable for site conditions, but they might get pressure to give their drivers better safety training for working through construction zones or even tools to report unsafe sites. They might also see more subrogation claims from workers’ comp carriers or from personal injury lawyers trying to recover damages. It’s complicated, and every party involved has a vested interest in preventing accidents.
Concrete Steps for Compliance and Risk Mitigation
With this expanded premises liability, construction companies and property owners in Los Angeles have to take real steps to lower their risk. Ignoring this change is a huge mistake, given the high potential for expensive lawsuits and damage to your reputation.
1. Review and Update Safety Protocols and Site Access Policies
Every construction site needs a safety plan, but now that plan must specifically account for third-party delivery people. That means:
- Designated Delivery Zones: Set up clear, safe, and easy-to-reach drop-off spots away from active work. These zones must be well-marked, clear of debris, and have decent lighting.
- Clear Signage: Use signs that are impossible to misunderstand to direct drivers to these zones and warn them about construction site hazards. Put them at the entrance and use directional signs inside the site.
- Visitor Check-In Procedures: Think about requiring all delivery staff to check in, get a quick safety briefing (maybe via a QR code to a safety video), and be escorted if they must enter an active work area.
- Communication Protocols: Project managers and foremen need to know when deliveries are expected so they can communicate any specific hazards or access issues to the drivers ahead of time.
These aren’t just suggestions. They’re becoming the essential things you have to do to show you’re exercising reasonable care. On a huge project like the Grand Avenue Arts District redevelopment, managing hundreds of daily deliveries demands a sophisticated, well-oiled system.
2. Enhance Hazard Identification and Mitigation
The duty to inspect for and fix dangerous conditions now applies to any area a delivery driver might reasonably go. So what does that mean in practice?
- Regular Site Inspections: You need to be doing daily or weekly walk-throughs of all paths, access points, and delivery zones to find and fix trip hazards, falling object risks, or other problems. And you need to document these inspections.
- Secure Storage: Make sure all materials and equipment are stored safely away from common paths. Think about what could fall or get knocked over.
- Proper Excavation Management: All trenches and holes, even small ones, must be clearly marked with barriers, signs, and good lighting, especially where a delivery driver might walk. Cal/OSHA Section 1541 on excavations should be followed religiously.
I find a lot of contractors get tunnel vision and only focus on hazards for their own crews. This ruling forces a wider view, you have to think about what an untrained person, someone totally unfamiliar with a job site, might run into.
3. Review Insurance Policies and Indemnity Agreements
This is where the rubber meets the road financially. Property owners and GCs have to:
- Commercial General Liability (CGL) Review: Get with your insurance broker and go over your CGL policies to make sure you have enough coverage for claims from third-party invitees, including gig workers. Know your limits, exclusions, and deductibles cold.
- Indemnity Clauses: Read the indemnity clauses in your contracts with GCs and subs very carefully. Make sure they protect you from claims related to delivery personnel accidents. A well-written indemnity clause can shift a lot of the financial risk.
- Additional Insured Status: Owners should be named as additional insureds on their GC’s CGL policy, and GCs should require the same from their subs. It’s an extra layer of financial protection.
An accident can blow up into a multi-million dollar lawsuit, especially in L.A. where medical costs and jury awards are sky-high. Having enough insurance is a flat-out necessity.
4. Legal Counsel and Training
You absolutely need to engage a lawyer who knows California premises liability and construction law. They can help you understand the details of the Perez ruling and recommend specific strategies. It’s also critical to train all your supervisors on what this decision means and the new safety protocols. Everyone on site has to understand their job in keeping the site safe for everybody, including someone dropping off an Instacart delivery.
The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) already does site inspections for code compliance. While they’re usually looking at structural issues and worker safety, a bad accident involving a delivery driver could easily trigger a much deeper investigation from them, which could lead to fines or stop-work orders if they find problems that caused the accident. Taking proactive steps is always a better strategy than reacting to a regulator.
This ruling is a fundamental re-evaluation of who’s responsible for what in our changing economy. The companies that adapt quickly are the ones that will manage their risk and keep their projects running smoothly.
The legal environment for construction accidents, especially with the constant motion of gig services like Instacart delivery, requires property owners and contractors in Los Angeles to stay on their toes. Being proactive with safety, insurance, and legal reviews is essential for dealing with the bigger scope of premises liability that came out of the Perez v. Westside Construction Co. ruling. Making sure every construction site is safe for all foreseeable visitors, delivery drivers included, is now the baseline standard.
What does the Perez v. Westside Construction Co. ruling mean for construction sites?
It means gig economy workers like Instacart drivers who enter a construction site for work are now legally considered invitees. This forces property owners and general contractors to meet a higher duty of care, requiring them to actively inspect the site for dangers and fix them, not just warn about the ones they already know exist.
How does this ruling change traditional premises liability?
Before, a delivery person might have been seen as a “licensee,” which meant a lower duty of care. The Perez decision upgrades them to “invitee” status because the site gets an economic benefit from their delivery. This expands the legal responsibility of the site’s owner and GC to a whole new group of people who aren’t their employees.
What specific steps should a general contractor take to comply?
GCs need to set up designated safe delivery zones, use clear signage, create a visitor check-in process, and conduct regular site inspections for hazards in all accessible areas. They also have to update their safety plans to specifically include rules for third-party delivery personnel and then train their supervisors on the changes.
Do Cal/OSHA regulations apply to Instacart delivery drivers on a construction site?
While Cal/OSHA rules are written to protect employees, a court will now likely see them as the standard for keeping invitees like delivery drivers safe, too. If you ignore relevant Cal/OSHA standards, like Section 1541 for excavations or Section 1597 for traffic control, it could be used as proof of negligence in a lawsuit.
What are the insurance implications for property owners and contractors?
They need to immediately review their Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies to confirm they’re covered for claims from these third-party invitees. It’s also time to check the indemnity clauses in all contracts and confirm that they have additional insured status where possible to shield themselves from the increased financial risk of a lawsuit.
