Structure Tone Construction Accident Liability in New York

About Structure Tone

Structure Tone was founded in 1971 in New York City. It grew into one of the country's largest interior construction contractors — specializing in tenant improvements, office fit-outs, corporate headquarters renovations, and commercial interiors. The company operates nationally but its roots and a substantial portion of its work remain in New York City, where it has completed interiors for major financial institutions, law firms, media companies, and commercial tenants throughout Manhattan's office towers.

Structure Tone is now part of STO Building Group, a family of construction companies that includes Pavarini McGovern and other regional contractors. The parent company handles a range of building types, but Structure Tone's core identity remains interior fit-out in commercial real estate.

The typical Structure Tone project looks different from a new skyscraper. They're doing build-outs on multiple floors of occupied office towers — demolishing existing tenant spaces, running new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, erecting partition walls, and installing ceilings and finishes. Work happens with the building operational above, below, and around the construction zone. Dozens of subcontractors are on the floor simultaneously, in tight spaces, with active construction hazards in close proximity to each other.

Does Labor Law 240 Apply to Interior Fit-Out Work?

This is the question that matters most for workers injured on Structure Tone projects. The answer is yes — but the application requires some specificity.

Labor Law § 240(1) covers "erection, demolition, repairing, altering, painting, cleaning or pointing of a building or structure." Interior tenant improvement and renovation work falls within "altering" a building. Courts have confirmed this: a gut renovation of an office floor is "altering" even if no new building is being built.

The gravity-risk scenarios on a Structure Tone fit-out are real. Workers on scaffolds or lifts doing ceiling work, workers on ladders hanging ductwork or running conduit, workers on elevated platforms installing curtain wall connections or mechanical systems — these are Section 240(1) scenarios. A collapse of a baker's scaffold during ceiling tile installation is a 240(1) case. A worker who falls from an aerial lift that tips because it wasn't properly stabilized has a 240(1) case.

Section 241(6) applies equally. The Industrial Code requirements for housekeeping, tripping hazard protection, and proper ventilation apply to interior renovation work. On an active fit-out with multiple trades and heavy debris generation, code violations are common.

Structure Tone's non-delegable duty under these statutes applies to all workers on the project regardless of which sub they work for. A laborer employed by the carpentry sub has the same rights against Structure Tone as any worker on a ground-up construction site.

What Workers Injured at Structure Tone Sites Can Recover

The damages available in a Labor Law claim against Structure Tone are the same as in any serious construction injury case. There is no cap on pain and suffering in New York. Recoverable items include:

• All medical expenses including surgery, hospitalization, physical therapy, and long-term care
• Lost wages from the date of injury
• Reduced future earning capacity — especially significant for skilled tradespeople who can no longer perform demanding physical work
• Pain and suffering, past and future
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Spouse's loss of consortium claim

Interior fit-out work involves physical labor at height — ladder falls, scaffold collapses, aerial lift accidents. These produce the same types of serious injuries as any other construction accident: spinal injuries, shoulder and knee damage, traumatic brain injuries, severe fractures. The interior setting doesn't reduce the stakes when someone falls 15 feet from a scaffold.

Documenting Your Claim

Interior job sites present some documentation challenges. Because fit-out work moves fast — a floor that's under active construction today may look completely different in two weeks — conditions change quickly. Photograph everything you can at the scene. The scaffold that failed, the ladder that slipped, the aerial lift that tipped, the floor opening without a cover — get pictures before anyone moves or cleans up.

• File an incident report with Structure Tone's site super and get a copy
• Take photographs of the exact condition that caused the injury
• Get names and contact information for any coworkers who witnessed what happened
• Get medical treatment the same day
• Write down your own account of events, dated, before speaking with anyone representing the GC or its insurer
• Don't sign anything from Structure Tone or their insurance carrier