Bozeman Construction Accident Lawyers

Bozeman, MontanaBozeman Construction Accident

Bozeman Construction Accident Lawyers: Falls, Trench Collapses and Crane Accidents on Gallatin County and Big Sky Job Sites

Boland Aarab PLLP.

If you were hurt on a construction site in Bozeman, Belgrade or Big Sky, workers’ compensation is usually your only remedy against your own employer. But a general contractor, developer, another subcontractor or an equipment maker may also be responsible, and a claim against them can recover the full damages comp does not pay. Most such claims must be filed within three years.

Hurt on a Gallatin County job site, or lost someone on one? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

What makes construction in the Bozeman area dangerous?

Gallatin County has led Montana in population growth, and much of the work to house and serve that growth is done by crews of many different companies on the same site. The hazards we see most often reflect the kind of building going on here:

• Mid-rise buildings in Bozeman. Apartment, hotel and mixed-use buildings downtown, along North 19th Avenue and near Montana State University bring tower cranes, steel erection, elevated decks and floor openings. Falls from height and falling-object injuries are the serious risks.
• Mountain building at Big Sky. Large custom homes and resort projects are built on steep lots at altitude, often through the winter. Snow and ice on decks and roofs, cold-stressed equipment and short daylight add to fall and struck-by risk, and the sites are a long drive from a trauma center.
• Utility trenches. New subdivisions in the valley need water, sewer and power lines. Trench and excavation work in the valley’s gravels is work the Montana Supreme Court has treated as inherently dangerous.
• Highway and street work. Crews on the Montana Department of Transportation’s North 7th Avenue project and on I-90 and U.S. 191 work beside moving traffic (MDT 7th Ave. fact sheet).

What happens after a construction accident in Bozeman?

Emergency care. A serious fall or crush injury in Bozeman is taken to Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center, which the state lists as an ACS Level 3 / State Area Trauma Hospital. Big Sky Medical Center, at 334 Town Center Avenue, is a trauma receiving facility with a helipad; a critically injured worker may be stabilized there and flown on (DPHHS trauma facility list, Nov. 2025; Bozeman Health).

OSHA. Montana has no OSHA state plan for private employers, so federal OSHA enforces construction safety rules on Gallatin County job sites (OSHA State Plans). The office for Montana is the OSHA Billings Area Office (OSHA Montana). Employers must report a work-related death within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or eye loss within 24 hours (29 C.F.R. § 1904.39). The OSHA file, including photographs and interview notes, can be requested and is often useful evidence.

Workers’ comp and the third-party claim. Give your employer written notice promptly and make sure the comp claim is filed; comp deadlines are much shorter than the lawsuit deadline. We do not handle the comp claim itself, but we coordinate with your comp lawyer so the two tracks help each other.

The court. A third-party lawsuit over a Gallatin County site is filed in the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, at the Gallatin County Law and Justice Center, 515 South 16th Avenue, Bozeman (§ 3-5-101, MCA). A developer or contractor from another state may remove it to the federal court’s Butte Division (D. Mont. L.R. 1.2). Big Sky sites on the Madison County side of the county line belong to a different state judicial district, which affects where the case is filed.

Montana law that applies

Our Montana construction accident lawyer page explains the rules in detail. In brief:

• Workers’ compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against your employer (§ 39-71-411, MCA), but you keep the right to sue third parties (§ 39-71-412, MCA).
• A general contractor or owner can be liable to a subcontractor’s worker when it took on safety duties by contract, when the work is inherently dangerous, or when it retained control and exercised it negligently (Fabich v. PPL Montana, 2007 MT 258).
• Trenching is inherently dangerous work (Beckman v. Butte-Silver Bow County, 2000 MT 112).
• OSHA requires fall protection at 6 feet (29 C.F.R. § 1926.501), scaffold fall protection above 10 feet (§ 1926.451) and cave-in protection in most excavations 5 feet or deeper (§ 1926.652).
• The comp insurer has a lien on a third-party recovery, with limits that protect the worker (§ 39-71-414, MCA).
• 3 years to file most third-party claims (§ 27-2-204, MCA).

Who is on a Bozeman job site besides your employer?

On most valley projects, the list is long: the developer or owner, the general contractor, framing, roofing, concrete and excavation subcontractors, a crane company, an equipment rental yard, engineers, and delivery drivers. Big Sky projects often add an out-of-area general contractor and specialty subcontractors brought in for the job. Any of them may have created the hazard or controlled the part of the site where you were hurt. The prime contract, safety plan, daily logs and meeting minutes usually show who was responsible for what, and we request them early.

Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Bozeman case?

Construction cases are fought over contracts and expert testimony, against contractors with experienced insurance defense counsel. We are based in Great Falls, handle cases across Montana, and our attorneys travel to Bozeman and Big Sky for site inspections, depositions, hearings and trial. We do not have a Bozeman office. We prepare every case as if it will be tried.

The Boland Aarab Way

• Courtroom time. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom, and our firm has tried more than a dozen jury trials in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties.
• Federal court experience. More than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, useful when an out-of-state contractor removes a case to Butte.
• Verdicts protected on appeal. The Montana Supreme Court reinstated a $168,500 jury verdict for our client (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
• You work with the lawyers. Caitlin Boland Aarab and Samir Aarab handle your case themselves.

We also handle workplace injury cases in Bozeman and spinal cord injury cases in Bozeman. See our Bozeman personal injury page for more.

Frequently Asked Questions

I fell from a roof on a Big Sky home. Can I sue anyone besides my employer? Often yes. The general contractor, the owner or another subcontractor may have controlled fall protection on the site, and a defective harness or ladder maker may be responsible too.

Which OSHA office investigates a Bozeman construction accident? Federal OSHA, through its Billings Area Office, covers private job sites in Montana. It investigates many fatalities and serious injuries, and its file can be requested.

A trench collapsed on a subdivision project near Belgrade. Who is responsible? Your employer is covered by workers’ comp, but the general contractor or developer may be liable because the Montana Supreme Court treats trenching as inherently dangerous work.

I was hit by a driver while flagging on a Bozeman road project. What claims do I have? A workers’ comp claim and a claim against the driver, and possibly against a contractor that set up the work zone unsafely. The driver’s own auto insurance is often the first source.

Does it matter whether a Big Sky site is in Gallatin or Madison County? Yes. The county decides which state district court hears the case. Both counties are in the federal Butte Division.

Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.