weekend legal education | an online air-conditioning repairman fell and was injured. should the property owner be held responsible?
2024-09-02
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the homeowner arranged an appointment with an air conditioner repairman online, but the repairman accidentally fell and was injured during the operation, which led to disputes over various legal relationships such as the contract and employment relationship, and the parties involved had different opinions on compensation for damages. recently, the people's court of fengtai district, beijing, made a first-instance judgment after hearing the case, determining that the employment fell within the scope of the contract, and the homeowner was not responsible. the repairman and the platform party were required to bear the corresponding compensation liability.
the court found that on july 2, 2021, wang placed an order for air conditioning repair services through a small program called "air conditioning repair quick repair". after receiving the order, the service provider, a beijing technology company, transferred the repair order to shi, who then contacted li for on-site repairs and agreed that the repair costs would be settled by shi. on the same day, li brought repair tools to wang's home to carry out repair work.
during the repair process, the cement board on the side of the house where li was standing suddenly broke, and li lost his balance and fell from the 8th floor. the safety rope was torn off, causing li to be injured. later, because the parties failed to reach an agreement on compensation, li sued the relevant parties to the court, demanding joint compensation for medical expenses, nursing expenses, disability compensation and other losses totaling more than 1 million yuan.
the court held that air conditioner maintenance is highly professional. once a fault occurs, it is necessary to hire a professional with professional skills to repair it. the remuneration paid is based on the results of the completed work. therefore, the maintenance and installation of household air conditioners generally fall within the scope of a contract for work. according to the provisions of the civil code of the people's republic of my country, if the contractor causes damage to a third party or himself during the completion of the work, the ordering party shall not bear tort liability, but if the ordering party is at fault in the ordering, instruction or selection, he shall bear the corresponding responsibility.
in this case, wang was the orderer of the contract, and li, the maintenance master who provided the service, was the contractor. however, wang placed an order for air conditioning maintenance services online, and the counterparty of the contract was a beijing technology company. li was not selected or designated by wang, but arranged by shi and a beijing technology company. when li was working at the installation site, the owner wang did not have any relevant faults and did not need to bear responsibility for this accident. as a contractor, li performed improper operations during the maintenance process, resulting in his own fall and injury, and he should bear the corresponding responsibility. shi and a beijing technology company selected li, who did not have the qualifications to repair air conditioners, and there was negligence in selection, and they should also bear corresponding responsibility for the damage to li.
based on this, the court comprehensively considered the case and determined that li was responsible for 50% of the accident, shi was responsible for 25% of the accident, and a beijing technology company was responsible for 25% of the accident. the court ordered shi and the beijing technology company to compensate li more than 160,000 yuan each.
after the case was pronounced, the parties were dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment and filed an appeal. the second-instance court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
the platform should strictly manage and prevent illegal operations
"in practice, it is easy for people to confuse the difference between a labor contract and a contract for work, but the legal responsibilities corresponding to the two contracts are completely different." the judge explained after the trial that a labor contract relationship refers to a civil rights and obligations relationship established when the party providing the labor service provides labor services to the party receiving the labor service, and the party receiving the labor service pays the remuneration in accordance with the agreement. during the labor service period, the party providing the labor service completes the work according to the instructions; the party receiving the labor service not only has to pay the wages, but also has to ensure personal safety. if the party providing the labor service is harmed due to the labor service, it shall bear the corresponding responsibility according to the fault of each party.
in a work-for-work relationship, there is no employment or labor relationship between the contractor and the ordering party. the contractor mainly relies on his own technology and professional skills to independently complete the work, and is not subject to the control of the ordering party. in the work-for-work contract, the ordering party purchases the fruits of labor and is not responsible for the labor process and the safety of the contractor. therefore, if the contractor causes damage to a third party or himself during the completion of the work, the ordering party shall not bear tort liability. however, if the ordering party is at fault during the ordering process, he shall bear the corresponding fault liability.
at present, with the development of platform economy, employment relations are becoming more and more diversified. in order to maintain good employment relations and reduce unnecessary risks, the judge reminded that the platform should strictly review the qualifications of merchants, strictly control entry, realize effective management of merchants, and prevent potential infringements. when dispatching orders, merchants should choose staff with construction qualifications and should not blindly pursue economic benefits and ignore safety, causing unnecessary damages.
"in practice, the main causes of high-altitude fall accidents include working without a safety rope and not having the qualifications for high-altitude work. air conditioning repairmen should not go to work without a license and should not leave the window without a rope to ensure that the entire operation complies with safety regulations. consumers should choose platforms and businesses with high credibility to avoid being put at risk of litigation." the judge also reminded that for neighborhood disputes that may arise during the installation and use of air conditioners, adjacent rights holders of real estate should properly handle neighborhood relations in accordance with the principles of benefiting production, facilitating life, unity and mutual assistance, and fairness and rationality. "the neighborhood spirit of 'being kind to neighbors and keeping company with neighbors' is an important part of china's fine traditional culture and an important part of the construction of the socialist core value system."
the judge pointed out that according to the provisions of the civil code, if the real estate right holder uses the adjacent real estate for water, drainage, passage, laying pipelines, etc., he should try to avoid causing damage to the adjacent real estate right holder. generally speaking, the installation of air conditioners needs to comply with the relevant specifications and be installed in a specific location that meets the conditions. the outdoor unit of the air conditioner may produce drainage, exhaust, noise, etc. when in use. these must be considered in advance during installation to minimize the relevant damage. according to the "installation specifications for air conditioners for household and similar purposes" (gb17790-2008), the outdoor unit of the air conditioner should be as far away from the doors, windows and green plants of the adjacent party as possible. if the rated cooling capacity of the air conditioner is not more than 4.5kw, the distance from the doors and windows of the other party shall not be less than 3m; if the rated cooling capacity of the air conditioner is more than 4.5kw, the distance from the doors and windows of the other party shall not be less than 4m; if the requirements cannot be met due to limited conditions, the relevant parties should be negotiated to resolve the problem or take corresponding protective measures.
