Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Practice Tip: Permitting Short-Term Access to Your Property

By Mark Morfopoulos

If a contractor requires access to your site for any reason, the temptation is great to allow the access without having the contractor sign a document outlining the terms and conditions relating to its access rights. This is especially true if the contractor is entering your property for just a few days or a shorter time period. The problem is that even in a few hours ' or a few minutes, for that matter ' an accident can occur on your premises and you can find yourself defending claims brought by third parties when you did nothing to cause the damage or injury.

Of course, practicality is important. On the one hand, you want to protect yourself from liability that you did not cause. On the other hand, you do not want to give the contractor a long or intimidating document that he or she will take to a lawyer and cause you to incur unnecessary legal costs negotiating an agreement. A simple solution would be to have both owner and contractor sign a brief letter agreement to cover the major issues that can arise:

  • Identifying the site, name of the contractor, time the contractor is allowed to be on the site and activities permitted on the site;
  • Providing that the contractor will indemnify, defend and hold the owner harmless for damage caused by the contractor;
  • Requiring that the contractor take out insurance and provide the owner with an Insurance Certificate naming the owner as an additional insured;
  • Stating that the contractor must promptly notify the owner if an accident occurs;
  • Containing language protecting the owner from the dissemination of confidential information to outside parties; and
  • Acknowledging that the party signing the agreement letter is an independent contractor.

Model Indemnification Letter

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs Image

A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.

Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.

Coverage Issues Stemming from Dry Cleaner Contamination Suits Image

In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.