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Indoor Air Quality and the Insurance Industry |
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The US Department of Energy recently funded a study of indoor air quality (IAQ) illnesses from an insurance loss reduction perspective. This study also confirmed some conventional wisdom about legal exposure from poor indoor air quality in commercial buildings.
One point noted in the report was that the incidents of commercial buildings with poor IAQ and the frequency of litigation over the effects of poor IAQ are increasing. Little information, however, was found about the actual cost to insurance companies from poor IAQ. The study showed that articles in the insuurance industry press indicate an increased awareness and growing concern over the "silent crisis" of IAQ. Few insurance companies are taking steps to address this issue though. Insurance providers instead have found that, through the adddition of pollution exclusions, they have a legal way to limit their liability in many cases involving IAQ and also lead paint, asbestos, and formaldehyde insulation.
Specifically, IAQ-related illness in the commercial sector was addressed in the research because costs and litigation appear to be rising and, as a result, the public and the professional awareness of these illnesses has increased as well.
One other area of concern in the literature reviewed is schools. Although cost data and the size of indoor air quality probelms in schools were unavailable, several references noted that schools are especially likely to have poor IAQ. This was determined in light of the US General Accounting Office's report in which it was stated that 50% of schools suffer from IAQ problems.
Almost any party associated with a building's construction or maintenance can be named as defendants in a suiit. This includes building owners, managers, real-estate developers, architects, engineers, general and HVAC contractors, manufacturers of building products, and leasing agents.
Lawyers are escalating the legal race looking for other precedents on which to base IAQ suits as well. The most common areas of law used today are (1) contracts and breach of lease; (2) professional malpraactice or negligence; (3) strict liability, generally used against product manufacturers; (4) fraud or misrepresentation; or (5) punitive damages for punishing the defendants.
There are no figures for total costs due to unfavorable judgments in IAQ lawsuits because so many of these suits are settled out of court and remain confidential. Our next Indoor Air Currents will study the results of four specific IAQ problems. |
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