Liability Sports Park: More Information

Questioner

Good afternoon, With a number of local residents we are working on setting up a public sports park in our neighbourhood. We have been allocated a piece of land by the housing association that is also the owner of the land. Because we are not in a strong financial position, we use various sponsors. After having had a number of conversations with various parties, we were asked who is responsible/liable if someone ever falls off a scaffolding and breaks their leg or worse. Is this the sponsor, us as residents or the housing association? Furthermore, I would like to know that if we put up a sign saying 'sports/playing at your own risk', is this sufficient to protect the liable party? I hope you can answer my question, It would also be nice if you could tell me the rules that the Dutch have about this if it is not too much trouble. I thank you in advance for your time and effort and I hope you can be of assistance to us.

Lawyer

The construction is very complicated. But in my opinion the landowner would be liable, however, he will not acknowledge this liability since he is not the one who places and maintains everything. The municipality will probably not acknowledge the damage either and the sponsors are certainly not liable. In the latter case, the liability will then lie with the residents. My advice is therefore to see if there is a possibility to create an association or foundation if one does not already exist. In this way you could insure yourself as an organization, and you can also obtain financial sponsorship and tax benefits. You should also take into account the annual inspection of the devices. This is mandatory and if you do not do this, the liability will be considered very high because there will be negligence and the resulting costs will be even higher. If you would like further help and/or advice, you can always contact me.