Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Komadina

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/24/2007

HB

SHORT TITLE

Construction Contractor Limited Liability

SB 44

ANALYST Moser

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

(0.0)**

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

**This bill poses the risk of liability claims attributed to the volunteer contractor’s or

architect’s negligence.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

Architectural Board of Examiners (ABE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 44 provides that contractors and architects who voluntarily and without compensation

provide services at the scene of a declared national, state or local emergency shall not be liable

for any personal injury, wrongful death, or property damage caused by the contractor or

architect’s acts, errors or omissions in the performance of those services.

SB 44 further provides that this immunity applies only to a voluntary contracting or architectural

service that occurs within 30 days of the emergency, disaster or catastrophic event, unless

extended by an executive order issued by the Governor. Finally, there is no immunity provided

for wanton, willful or intentional misconduct or to a person whose act or omission caused the

disaster or catastrophic event.

Senate Bill 44 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Indeterminate.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Since a volunteer would be granted immunity under this bill and could cause personal injury or

property damage this would not remove the government from liability for contractor negligence

because a valid assumption would be that the contractor is under the supervision of the

government or had received training. The NMDOT gives an example of how the NMDOT could

be impacted involves a disaster or catastrophic event occurring on a public roadway, or which

involves the use of a public roadway within the NMDOT’s jurisdiction. During such an

emergency, a roadway might need to be cleared and a volunteer contractor attempts to do so. If

the contractor causes personal injury or property damage, he will be immune from liability under

this bill. However, the issue would be whether the governmental agency responsible for

overseeing the emergency response, the NMDOT in this case, is liable for the contractor’s

negligence.

An injured person might claim that even though the tortfeasor (volunteer) is immune, the agency

(NMDOT) should be liable for the volunteer’s negligence because it failed to train or properly

supervise the volunteer in the performance of its activities during the emergency. The NMDOT

suggests that perhaps volunteer contractors or architects would first have to be approved or

trained by the responsible agency, or that the volunteers would work under the supervision of the

responsible agency, the bill should provide that the negligence of a volunteer contractor or

architect at the scene of a disaster or catastrophic event would not be imputed to the

governmental agencies who are responsible for overseeing the emergency response.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The regulation and licensing departments indicates that the legislation does not define the term

“contractor" and that the legislation could be read to include unlicensed contractors and licensed

contractors performing services outside the scope of their licenses. It could also be read to

exclude journeymen who are the only individuals who are legally authorized to perform

electrical, mechanical and plumbing contracting in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Board of Examiners for Architects suggests the following wording be added to

the bill: on page 2, under section 2, the words “Rules and Regulations" be added after

“Architectural Act". This is the full name of the Act and will enable the Board to enact the

wording of the bill into its Rules and Regulations in a timely fashion.

GM/nt