Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia
mechanic after-hours work, release from liability
My son is in the Navy, stationed in Virginia. He does plumbing and HVAC work some nights and weekends to earn a few extra dollars for the family. The work is typically for friends or friends of friends, sometimes for a business with a temporary high workload.
Would you agree that, especially when working at the homes of private individuals, he needs a signed statement before starting work, something like: ''I [paying for the work] recognize you [my son] are not a professional mechanic and that I am saving a bundle hiring you. I also know you will do the highest quality work you can. If anything goes wrong during or after the job -- a broken pipe, a ruined compressor, etc -- I do not hold you liable in any way.''
I'm worried that without this, my son could lose from just one job all that he made in dozens of others.
Is there a form, written in simple language, that he and his customers could use?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: mechanic after-hours work, release from liability
As long as your son does not perform any of the
work negilgently which you have described there should be no need for such a form which, incidentally, would probably not shield him from liability for any negligence which could be attributed to him during the course of the work.
Your son could not be held responsible for a broken pipe or ruined compressor unless it could be proven that he himself was likely responsible for actually installing the defective equipment and knew at the time(or had to reason to know) that it was defective and would likely break.
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