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Your Slip and Fall Accident Case: A Closer Look at Building Code
Violations...
A slip
and fall accident case involving building code violations can often be
open and shut.
When you slip and fall on someone else’s property it's always a good
idea to check
if the relevant part of their building is up to code.
If you find a building code violation and can show that it directly
contributed to your accident, the insurance company won’t have much
choice but to make you a fair settlement
offer.
The tricky part about discovering building code
violations in a slip and fall accident case is the same thing that
makes it tricky for the
builder to avoid them...
The rules of building any kind of structure can
differ a lot between states and even between counties.
Each county
has some of its own rules and these can be
drastically different from the county just next door.
Sometimes these
codes can't in any way effect a slip and fall accident case. Other
times
they're specifically designed to avoid them.
There are several
places you can go to investigate if a building code has been ignored.
The easiest ones are your local law library or the county building
permit office.
If your slip and fall personal injury happened on the stairs
then check into
everything about stairs you can find. This is the most
common instance where a code violation will help you.
Common rules for stairs have to do with the evenness of stair depth.
The distance from one step to the next has to be consistent, to a
certain degree, throughout the whole staircase. Your local code will
define exactly what this variance can be.
Not only does there
have to be consistency in stair depths but the depth and height also
have to fall within certain parameters. Measure
the stairs that you
tripped on and see if they exceed the local standard. Even if the
variance is small it will work in your favor.
Another common thing to look at after falling on stairs is the
handrail. Your local code will outline just how high a
handrail should
be. It should also give regulations as to when a handrail is required.
If you have a slip and fall accident case and any of these or other
rules
were broken the first thing you should do is spell that out in
your demand letter.
No one expects you to use technical language when
talking about building codes. Just explain it as clearly as you can.
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Injury Settlement Guide
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