Pfau v. Williamson

Citations

• 63 Ill. 16

Syllabus

<p>1. Negligence—excavation in street by contractor. Where the owner of a lot in a city contracts with a skillful, reliable and competent builder for the erection of a house thereon, including a cellar under the sidewalk in the street, and surrenders possession of the property to the builder for the purposes of the work, and the work is not done under the direction of the owner, and injury ensues to a third person from the negligence of the contractor and not of the owner, such contractor is not the servant of the owner, and he alone is liable for the injury inflicted.</p> <p>2. Same—liability of contractor to owner for damages paid by him. Where the owner of a lot contracted with a competent workman for the erection of a house thereon, including the construction-'of a cellar under the sidewalk, surrendering the possession of the ground and the entire control of the work to the contractor, and gave no specific directions as to the manner in which the contractor should perform his work on the cellar, or how it should be constructed, and the contractor left the excavation in the sidewalk not properly guarded and protected, so that a third party without fault on his part fell into the same and was injured, and the owner of the lot was compelled to pay the same: Held, in an' action by the owner against the contractor, that if the injury was caused by the negligence of the latter, he was liable to the owner for the damages he had paid for such injury, the ordinance of the city requiring the contractor to protect such excavations by fences or other obstructions around the same to prevent injury to persons and the property of others.</p> <p>3. In a suit of this kind the court below instructed the jury, “that if they believe, from the evidence, that the defendant did the work which he contracted to do for the plaintiff in a skillful and workmanlike manner, and as he contracted to do it, that then the plaintiff can not recover back from the defendant what he has had to pay o