ABSTRACT
The employer of an independent contractor is generally not liable for any torts committed by the contractor or his employees in the course of the job for which he is engaged. The law considers that, since the employer cannot control the way in which the contractor does the work, it is the contractor alone who is in a position to guard against any risks incidental to the work and who must, therefore, alone be answerable for any damage caused to third parties as a result of his failure to take due precautions. Furthermore, the risk of accidents will normally be incidental to the contractor’s business rather than to the employer’s, and it is therefore more convenient to allow any loss resulting from damage caused to third parties to fall on the contractor, who will usually be better equipped to insure against such loss and who can easily pass on the cost of this insurance in the form of higher prices charged for his work.
