Most contractors think about insurance as protection. But after a hot work fire, the building owner's carrier pays the claim — and then their subrogation team starts looking for someone to recover from. The first question is always the same: can the contractor prove they followed protocol? Courts have noted that hot work fire cases rely almost entirely on circumstantial evidence because no one sees the fire start. The documentation trail is the only defense.
What Subrogation Means for Contractors
After a hot work fire, the building owner's insurance pays the claim. Then the carrier's subrogation team goes to work — pursuing the contractor whose work caused the fire. The first thing they ask for is the paper trail: permits, fire watch logs, completion records. If the documentation has gaps, the contractor becomes the defendant.
The Evidence Problem
Courts note that hot work fire cases rely on circumstantial evidence because no one sees the fire start. The work finishes, the crew leaves, and hours later the fire is discovered. A University of Iowa study documented 12,360 hot work fires per year with $309 million in damage and 31 deaths. In one case study, welders left a school site between 3:30 and 4:00 PM. Fire broke out at 6:18 PM. Damages exceeded $400,000. The contractor was named as defendant.
Documentation as Defense
The only defense a contractor has in a subrogation case is verifiable documentation. Paper logs that could have been written after the fact are circumstantial at best. Server-timestamped records with GPS coordinates showing a fire watch was physically present and checking in at regular intervals — that's the kind of evidence that survives cross-examination.
Source: CLM Magazine