§ 28-29-6.1. Secondary provision of workers' compensation insurance. (a) Whenever a general contractor or a construction manager enters into a contract with a subcontractor for work to be performed in Rhode Island, the general contractor or construction manager shall at all times require written documentation evidencing that the subcontractor carries workers' compensation insurance with no indebtedness for its employees for the term of the contract or is an independent contractor pursuant to the provisions of § 28-29-17.1. In the event that the general contractor or construction manager fails to obtain the written documentation from the subcontractor, the general contractor or construction manager shall be deemed to be the employer pursuant to provisions of § 28-29-2.

(b) For the purposes of this section, "construction manager" means an individual corporation, partnership, or joint venture or other legal entity responsible for supervising and controlling all aspects of construction work to be performed on the construction project, as designated in the project documents, in addition to the possibility of performing some of the construction services itself. For the purposes of this section, the construction manager need have no contractual involvement with any of the parties to the construction project other than the owner, or may contract directly with the trade contractors pursuant to its agreement with the owner.

(c) This section only applies to a general contractor, subcontractor, or construction manager deemed an employer subject to the provisions of Chapters 29 - 38 of this title, as provided in § 28-29-6.

(d) Whenever the workers' compensation insurance carrier is obligated to pay workers' compensation benefits to the employee of an uninsured subcontractor, the workers' compensation insurance carrier shall have a complete right of indemnification to the extent benefits are paid against either the uninsured subcontractor, uninsured general contractor or uninsured construction manager.

History of Section. (P.L. 1994, ch. 385, § 1; P.L. 1995, ch. 38, § 1; P.L. 2000, ch. 491, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 388, § 1; P.L. 2003, ch. 395, § 1.)