Claudia David: Your project, your responsibility – from now on, the developer is also in the crosshairs
An amendment to the Safety at Work Regulations (Construction Work), set to take effect on October 16, 2026, expands the responsibility of the developer and the project owner for safety. Attorney Claudia David analyzes the change: safety becomes part of project management, requiring active involvement of the owner in the contracting, budgeting, and decision-making stages, and may lead to criminal exposure for office holders.
Amendment 2025-2026 to the Safety at Work Regulations (Construction Work), which will take effect on October 16, 2026, expands the responsibility of the project owner (the developer) for safety on the project. Attorney Claudia David, a former prosecutor in the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office and an expert in criminal negligence, analyzes the change. The collapse of a building on Nehalat Binyamin Street yesterday, which only by chance did not cause casualties, serves as a jarring reminder. The amendment requires examining not only the contractor's conduct on site, but also the decisions made in boardrooms: the contracting stage, budget determination, and decision-making systems. Safety becomes part of project management, raising questions about organizational risk management. The project owner must define safety requirements in advance, allocate resources, appoint a safety inspector, and monitor the handling of deficiencies. The amendment has legal and criminal significance: after an accident, it will be examined who knew about the risk, to whom the information was conveyed, and what was actually done. Documentation must reflect a real process of reporting, handling, and follow-up. The article emphasizes that safety is not solely the responsibility of field personnel, but must be part of the company's decision-making and control mechanisms.