TITLE 5
Businesses and Professions
CHAPTER 5-8
Engineers
SECTION 5-8-25
§ 5-8-25 Engineers rendering assistance
during disaster emergency Immunity from civil liability.
(a) An engineer or engineering firm, duly licensed to practice in Rhode Island
under this chapter, who voluntarily and without compensation provides
engineering services at the scene of a disaster emergency shall not be liable
for any personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or other loss or
damages caused by an act or omission of the engineer or engineering firm in
performing the services.
(b) As used in this section, "disaster emergency" means a
disaster emergency declared by executive order or proclamation of the governor
pursuant to chapter 15 of title 30.
(c) The immunity provided in subsection (a) of this section
only applies to the practice of engineering as defined in this chapter
regarding an engineering service that:
(1) Concerns any building, structure or system whether
publicly or privately owned that is identified pursuant to a disaster emergency
executive order or proclamation;
(2) Relates to the structural integrity of the entire
building structure or system or any portion of the structure or system, or to a
nonstructural element of the structure or system, affecting public safety; and
(3) Is rendered during the time in which a state of disaster
emergency exists, as provided in chapter 15 of title 30.
(d) The immunity granted by this section does not apply to
acts or omissions constituting gross negligence or willful misconduct.
History of Section.
(P.L. 2000, ch. 403, § 2.)
