Construction Accident Claims: Injured on a Building Site
A construction accident claim is a personal injury claim for an injury on a building site caused by unsafe work at height, plant and vehicles, falling materials, collapsing excavations, poor site management or a lack of training; it is usually made against the insurance of the employer or the contractor running the site, it is open to agency workers and many CIS subcontractors as well as employees, it must normally start within three years, and National Accident Support Line assesses whether there is a claim and refers it to a specialist solicitor, with a callback within 2 minutes.
Building sites are where the chain of responsibility gets longest. You might be paid by one firm, directed by another and working on a site run by a third, for a client who owns the land. When something goes wrong, everyone points along the chain, and the person who was hurt is left wondering who, if anyone, they can claim against. Usually it is at least one of them. Construction had more worker deaths than any other industry in the HSE's provisional figures for 2025/26, and the HSE estimates that around 50,000 construction workers are injured at work every year.
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Who is responsible on a building site
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 set out who does what. The client has to make sure the project is properly resourced and managed. Where more than one contractor is on site, the principal contractor plans, manages and monitors the construction phase, coordinates health and safety between the trades, gives everyone a suitable site induction and keeps unauthorised people out. Each contractor plans and supervises its own workers' tasks. Workers have to be consulted, and have to report dangers they see. When someone is injured, the claim follows whoever failed in their part of that.
| Your situation | Who the claim is usually against |
|---|---|
| Employed directly by a contractor | Your employer, through its employers' liability insurance |
| An agency worker on site | The contractor controlling your work, and often the agency |
| Paid through CIS but told what to do, when and how | Often treated as an employee for safety purposes; the contractor directing you |
| Genuinely self-employed, with your own tools and methods | Whoever controlled the site or the hazard, often the principal contractor |
| Injured by another trade's work | That trade's employer, or the principal contractor coordinating the trades |
| A member of the public hurt next to a site | The principal contractor or the contractor responsible for the boundary |
CIS, self-employed and agency workers
A lot of construction workers assume that being paid through the Construction Industry Scheme means they're on their own. It doesn't decide it. HMRC can treat someone as self-employed for tax who is an employee in law, and the courts have held that a roofer who was self-employed for tax purposes was an employee when it came to safety, because the firm controlled the work (Lane v Shire Roofing, 1995). What matters is who controlled how, when and where the job was done, and who supplied the equipment. For agency workers, the business directing the work owes a duty of care, and the agency may owe one too.
What a construction accident claim covers
The injury and its lasting effect. Lost earnings, including day rates and the work already booked in that you had to turn down, shown through payslips, invoices or CIS statements. Treatment and rehabilitation. Care from family while you recovered. Tools and work clothing damaged in the accident. And future losses if you can't go back to your trade, or can only do lighter work.
Not every construction claim comes from a single accident. Hearing damage from noise, hand-arm vibration from breakers and grinders, and lung disease from silica dust are claims too, and the three-year time limit for them runs from when you first knew the condition was linked to your work.
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The situations people describe to us
"If I claim, I'll never get work round here again"
We hear this on construction claims more than any other. The claim is made against an insurer, which every employer must carry by law, and it is handled by the insurer's claims team, not by the site manager or the firm's owner. Raising health and safety concerns is protected. For a contractor, a claim is a routine insurance matter.
"The firm has gone bust since"
That doesn't end the claim. Employers' liability insurance covers the date of the accident, and the Employers' Liability Tracing Office can trace the insurer that was on cover at the time, even after a firm has stopped trading. Where the firm is insolvent, the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 lets you claim from its insurer directly.
"The agency says it's the contractor's problem, and the contractor says it's the agency's"
Both can owe you a duty. A solicitor works out who controlled the work and claims against the right insurer, or against both.
"I tripped over another trade's cables on the scaffold stairs"
Keeping access routes clear is part of the principal contractor's job of coordinating the site, and the trade that left the hazard owes a duty too. Photograph it before it is cleared away.
What to do after an accident on site
Get first aid and see a doctor. Make sure the accident goes in the site accident book and ask for a copy. If you're off work for more than seven days, the accident has to be reported to the HSE under RIDDOR: by your employer if you're an employee, and by whoever controls the site if you're self-employed. Photograph the cause, whether that's a missing barrier, an open excavation or a load that wasn't secured. Keep your induction paperwork. Take the names of witnesses, including people from other trades. Keep payslips, invoices or CIS statements. Don't sign anything about the accident from the firm or its insurer without advice. Then get in touch.
How a construction accident claim works with National Accident Support Line
Tell us what happened, by the form, WhatsApp or a call to 0333 212 2730; web enquiries are called back within 2 minutes during opening hours. We ask who you were working for, who was running the site, what happened and who saw it. If there is a claim, we refer it to a specialist workplace injury solicitor who runs it on a no win no fee basis. If there isn't, we tell you straight. NASL is an FCA-regulated claims management company, not a law firm. Some site accidents have their own pages: scaffolding collapses and falls, falls from ladders, roofs and platforms, and plant and machinery injuries. The general rules for every workplace are in the wider accident at work guide, and the rest of the injury claims we handle are on the personal injury page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim for a construction accident if I'm self-employed?
Often, yes. If a contractor controlled your work and supplied the equipment, it may owe you the duties of an employer whatever your tax status. Even genuinely self-employed workers are owed a duty by whoever controls the site.
Who is liable for an injury on a construction site?
It depends on who failed. It may be your employer, the principal contractor running the site, another trade, or the client. Often more than one shares responsibility, and each has insurance for it.
Am I entitled to full pay after an accident at work?
Only if your contract says so. Many construction workers get statutory sick pay or nothing at all if they're self-employed. The earnings you lose because of an injury someone else caused are part of the claim.
What is the most common accident on a construction site?
Falls from height. They caused more than half of construction worker deaths over the five years to 2024/25, according to the HSE. Slips and trips, being struck by falling materials or moving vehicles, and manual handling injuries are the other common causes.
How long do I have to make a construction accident claim?
Three years from the accident, or from when you first knew an illness such as hearing loss or vibration damage was caused by your work.
Can I claim if I was partly to blame?
Yes. The claim is reduced by your share of the blame rather than refused.
What does no win no fee mean?
Nothing to pay upfront and nothing to your solicitor if the claim fails. If it succeeds, the solicitor's success fee, capped at 25% of your compensation, comes out of the award, along with any insurance premium; the total is set out in writing before you sign.
We'll call you back within 2 minutes with a straight answer on where you stand.
National Accident Support Line Ltd is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of regulated claims management activities, registration number 829991.