Contractors damaged my property while I was at work

Question

I ride my bike to work daily. Outside our office building, there are multiple rows of bike racks installed. For the last 3 months, there have been contractors doing work around the building, about 50 or so feet away from where I park my bike. The boundary of where the construction is has been *very* clear, and I was well outside that range, at a temporary bike rack.

While I was in the office working, a contractor left the established work area, and began working less than 2 feet away from where my bike was parked (the same place I've parked it for those 3 months). When I left work, my bike was completely coated with little bits of cement. There was still a contractor working right next to my bike when I arrived who said in a mildly frustrated tone "Don't park your bike there tomorrow".

I was flabbergasted. The audacity to say such a thing as if it was my fault, as if he was the one who was harmed, not even acknowledging the state my bike was in. As I carried non-functional bike away, I muttered "Have a nice night" and he scoffed.

There were no fences, tape, or other signage to indicate construction was taking place there when I arrived, nor when I left.

I feel as if the construction company failed their professional duty in a multitude of ways. They did not mark construction areas before beginning it, they did not clear the site, and the individual himself was very rude.

I feel like I must let my company know how incompetent I think their contractors are, and I want to receive compensation for the damage to my bike. I think that's the very least the construction company could hope for, given the numerous laws they likely violated.

However, I do not know the name of the company managing construction. I am not sure who the proper person at our company internally to reach out to is. My inclination is HR, but they are obviously not directly involved with construction, and I worry the issue would die there. Is HR the proper contact? Is there any other steps I should take as well?

Answer 1

Sure, Talk to HR. This is the first step. HR may point you to a third party that hires this construction company.

It could be the owner of the building that hires this construction company (if your company does not own the building and only rents the offices from the owner).

You may or may not get compensated for the damage to your bike. But, at least, if you tell HR about it, then HR may warn your coworkers about other similar issues with this ongoing construction. It may help your coworkers.

Answer 2

Sure, Talk to HR. This is the first step.

No. The next step is to email HR about filing an insurance claim (and if possible property management as well). You can still talk to HR, but first email them, that establishes a paper trail. Establishing a paper trail is very important.

Ideally, as soon as you noticed the damaged or as soon as the worker said what he said to you, you should have pulled out your phone and video recorded the damage to your bike, documented the date and time, and documented the fact that there were no signs posted near where your bike was parked.

Then, you should have gone to the worker and said (and this part is important if you live in a two party consent state): "I'm sorry. You see my bike over there. It was damaged. I'm currently video recording this for documentation purposes. And I need you to inspect the damages with me. Can you do that for me please?"

"Hey man. That's fine. It's just that I'm going to send a bill to your employer. If you don't want to inspect the damages on camera, that's fine with me. But can you at least tell me the name of your employer and its contact information so I can file a claim with its insurance?"

Then, you get as much information as you can. Name of supervisor. Name of worker. Etc. It's ok if the worker doesn't want to give you all of that information, at least, you have the video of you asking for that information.

Next part, you write down/video record any contractor license # written on the side of their trucks, plus any license plate number.

In any case, don't worry if you didn't do this. But from now on, start documenting things. If you don't start documenting your grievances, you're more likely to get the brush off.

But, at least, if you tell HR about it, then HR may warn your coworkers about other similar issues with this ongoing construction. It may help your coworkers.

Also, the quicker you can show property management you're serious about filing an insurance claim (whether it's with your employer's insurance or with the contractor's insurance), the quicker property management can decide to withhold paying the final invoice from the contractor (should the contractor decide not to forward you their insurance information through them).

This is why you need to email them first, and then call them. Or if you already spoke with them, you can always memorialize your conversation via email and summarize what was said retroactively.