Section 240 of New York's Labor Law is the Scaffold Law. It says who must give construction workers scaffolds, ladders, hoists, ropes and similar devices, and what those devices must do: give the worker proper protection.
This page is general information, not legal advice for your case. We checked the law and the two court decisions it links to on November 10, 2026.
What the law says
Subdivision 1 is one long sentence, followed by a short exception for engineers and architects. Here is the sentence:
"All contractors and owners and their agents, except owners of one and two-family dwellings who contract for but do not direct or control the work, in the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure shall furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected for the performance of such labor, scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons, ropes, and other devices which shall be so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to a person so employed."
New York Labor Law §240(1), on the New York State Senate's website
Two shorter subdivisions follow. They set rules for high scaffolds and for how much weight a scaffold must hold.
Who has to provide the protection
The duty is on "contractors and owners and their agents". So your own employer is not the only one who owes it. The owner of the building and the general contractor can owe it too.
The Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, has held that owners and contractors can be liable under §240 even when they were not doing the work themselves, and whether or not they supervised or controlled it (Blake v Neighborhood Housing Services, 2003).
The law leaves out two groups. One is the owner of a one- or two-family house who hires someone for the work but does not direct or control it. The other is engineers, architects and landscape architects who only plan and design the work and do not direct or control it. For them, the statute keeps any liability they have under other law.
Which work it covers
The law covers "the erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure". In plain words: putting up, tearing down, repairing, altering, painting or cleaning a building or structure, and pointing, which is work on the mortar joints of brick or stone.
If you aren't sure your job counts, tell us exactly what you were doing when you got hurt.
Which devices, and what they must do
The statute names scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, irons and ropes, then adds "other devices". They must be built, placed and operated so that they give the worker proper protection.
For scaffolds, subdivisions 2 and 3 get specific:
- Scaffolding or staging more than 20 feet above the ground or floor needs a safety rail at least 34 inches high, along the whole outside and both ends. Gaps are allowed only where needed to bring in materials. The rail rule doesn't apply to scaffolding wholly inside a building that covers a room's entire floor.
- That high scaffolding must also be fastened so it can't sway away from the building.
- Every scaffold must be built to hold four times the most weight that will hang from it or sit on it in use.
What New York's highest court has added
Lawyers often call §240 a "strict liability" or "absolute liability" law. Those words are not in the statute. They come from the Court of Appeals, and in Blake v Neighborhood Housing Services (2003) the court explained what it means by them.
First, the worker has to show that the law was violated and that the violation helped cause the injury. An accident on its own proves neither. Second, once that is shown, the worker's own carelessness can't defeat the claim. In most other injury cases New York lets the other side point to the injured person's own fault, and Blake calls §240 an exception to that rule.
The rule has a limit. In Blake, a jury found that the ladder gave the worker proper protection and that his own conduct was the only cause of his fall. The court held that he could not recover under §240.
In Runner v New York Stock Exchange (2009) the court said §240 protects workers from the special dangers of a difference in height on a work site, not from ordinary workplace risks. It covers workers who fall and objects that fall.
In that case, workers moved a reel of wire weighing about 800 pounds down about four stairs, with a rope wrapped around a metal bar to slow it. Experts at the trial said the crew needed a pulley or hoist. The reel dragged Victor Runner into the bar and injured his hands. Nothing fell on him, and the court held that §240 still applied, because the harm came straight from the force of gravity on the reel.
Accidents that raise §240 questions
- A ladder that slipped, tipped, broke or gave way.
- A fall from a scaffold, or from staging more than 20 feet up with no safety rail.
- A load that fell or got away while it was being hoisted or lowered.
- Material that wasn't secured and fell on a worker below.
Whether §240 applies to your accident depends on its facts. Some accidents come under §241(6) or §200 instead.
How §240 fits with §241(6) and §200
Section 241(6) covers areas where construction, excavation or demolition work is going on. Owners, contractors and their agents must build, guard and run those areas so they give reasonable and adequate protection and safety to the people working there, and the state labor commissioner can make rules to carry this out. It has the same exception for owners of one- and two-family homes.
Section 200 is the general duty. Every place the Labor Law covers must give reasonable and adequate protection to the lives, health and safety of the people working there. Its first subdivision has no exception for homeowners.
One accident can raise questions under more than one of these sections. When you call, we look at all three.
Workers' comp and a lawsuit
Workers' compensation is generally the only claim you have against your own employer (Workers' Compensation Law §11). It doesn't stop you suing someone else. If someone who doesn't work for your employer caused the injury, such as the building owner or the general contractor, you can take comp benefits and also sue them (§29). You can't sue a co-worker employed by the same company.
Tell your employer about the injury within 30 days (§18).
Deadlines
The general deadline to sue for a personal injury in New York is three years, with exceptions (CPLR §214).
If the job belonged to New York City or another city, county, town or village, the first deadline is much shorter. A notice of claim has to be served within 90 days (General Municipal Law §50-e), and the lawsuit has to start within one year and 90 days (§50-i). Several public authorities have their own laws with the same notice. Our notice of claim guide lists them and explains how to file.
If a worker died, the family's wrongful death lawsuit generally has to start within two years of the death (EPTL §5-4.1).
These are general rules with exceptions. Call us early, before 90 days can run out.
Talk to a lawyer about your accident
The consultation is free. Call 718.376.0216, or send us a message telling us what happened on the job.
We meet clients at our Manhattan office, 425 Madison Ave, Suite 505, by appointment only. We can work with clients in English and Russian.
We take personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. This means there is no attorney's fee unless we recover compensation in your case. Your written fee agreement will explain any costs and expenses you may be responsible for, whatever the outcome.
For the other construction accident cases we take, see our construction accidents page.