Business Contracts

Contractors must take effective and sufficient protective measures to ensure that their work is carried out properly, failing which they may be held liable under their obligation of care and supervision (vigilance et surveillance).
The duty of care and supervision often goes hand in hand with the obligation of safety. As set out by the Court of Cassation, a restaurant owner is obliged to observe t …

Duty of care and supervision

Contractors must take effective and sufficient protective measures to ensure that their work is carried out properly, failing which they may be held liable under their obligation of care and supervision (vigilance et surveillance).

The duty of care and supervision often goes hand in hand with the obligation of safety. As set out by the Court of Cassation, a restaurant owner is obliged to observe the rules of care and surveillance in the layout, organization and operation of his establishment, as required for the safety of his customers . In view of the danger posed by a swimming pool to children, the mere installation of stacked chairs to obstruct access does not constitute an effective and sufficient protective measure to exempt him from liability in the event of an accident, since he could not legitimately ignore the probable presence of very young children at a reception, even a late one, and the foreseeable risks of their conduct. Similarly, a boilermaker, when using a blowtorch, has a duty to take all appropriate protective and surveillance measures, since he cannot legitimately be unaware of the risks associated with the use of such equipment . 

Generally speaking, compliance with the duty of care and supervision contributes to the effective performance of the work carried out by the contractor. A contractor who, while carrying out work in the vicinity of underground telecommunications infrastructures, neglects to take account of the plans provided by the operator of the underground network to determine the depth of the boreholes to be drilled, incurs liability in the event of damage to the infrastructure .   As a specialist contractor, the company fails in its duty of care if, while it was responsible for carrying out the studies for the extension of a house and monitoring the execution of the shell work, it failed to carry out any survey of the existing structure, any initial description of the construction to be carried out, or any prior assessment of the shell work required . Similarly, a design company in charge of supervising work on several buildings may be considered to have failed in its duty to supervise, when the widespread problems affecting the facades and gables are the result of faulty workmanship on the part of the contractor .

Cass. 1re civ., 14 March 1995, LawLex202200009993JB.

Cass. 1re civ., 29 May 1996, LawLex202200003854JBJ, adding that the boilermaker's safety obligations could not be transferred to the project owner's agent who had signed a “fire permit” describing him as “responsible for the general safety of the work”.

Cass. 3e civ. 16 January 2013, LawLex202200003857JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ., 23 September 2009, LawLex202200003884JBJ.

Cass. 3e civ. 25 January 1989, LawLex20220000000836JBJ.

Business Contracts

309. Duty of care and supervision

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

309. Duty of care and supervision

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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