I would have empathy for the parent. Haven’t we all been there and don’t we all understand how tough this can be? I would offer some age appropriate activity for the child and find some kid snacks he would enjoy. I would also tell the site manager that although you understand things come up, and that you appreciate their effort to stay on schedule but you are not comfortable with children in the job site.
Best of luck.

One time a carpenter (subcontractor) brought his teen son when we were having some work done and the kid actually stole some of my jewelry and a box of change - probably 200 bucks worth of change. The jewelry was not super valuable.

We let the contractor know and he was absolutely mortified and worried we would press charges, which we had no intention of doing. Actually we didn't know for sure who took it until the carpenter found the change and jewelry in his truck and his kid confessed. I actually felt bad for them.

That said, I would not care if someone who works on my house brings their kid. Our lawn guy does sometimes as does my cleaning person. Her kid loves my dogs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your issue. It's the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the safety of everyone brought on site and also the team lead's responsibility to ensure that his/her crew is not distracted.

If you were not in the house while they worked, would it matter to you if you knew that the contractor had brought a kid to your house the day before?

Just because you are the customer, you don't get to tell them how to do their jobs or manage their staff.

You can forbid violations of child labor laws and you can demand that all workers are covered by workers compensation insurance.

Do not let a child near a construction site. Too much liability for the homeowner.

Violations of child labor laws?!?
DCUM, you never disappoint.

If the child touches something on the construction site, a lawsuit can definitely come up with this. Just as the homeowner can be sued.

You don't understand the nature of our legal system. The mere costs associated with responding to a lawsuit are sometimes prohibitive and lead to settlements out of court. There are all kinds of complications and expenses to litigation.

And this wouldn’t be OP’s problem, it would be the contractors problem.

Anonymous wrote:We are in the middle of a renovation and the team that showed up today has a 9 or 10 yo child in tow. From what I can hear the kid seems to be assisting in some way, but is also talking nonstop and possibly a distraction in an active work zone. As a parent I never want to judge anyone who runs into a childcare emergency, but the whole thing feels a bit uncomfortable.

Do I mention it to the project manager? It's a D&B firm managing the reno that subcontracts out different pieces and the child is the son of the team lead. Just keep my mouth shut unless it becomes a daily thing?

Yes.

I would say not to bring him again. I don't want to hear a child blabbing all day and I would expect professionalism from someone I hired.

Always comical to read SHAMs giving legal advice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your issue. It's the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the safety of everyone brought on site and also the team lead's responsibility to ensure that his/her crew is not distracted.

If you were not in the house while they worked, would it matter to you if you knew that the contractor had brought a kid to your house the day before?

Just because you are the customer, you don't get to tell them how to do their jobs or manage their staff.

You can forbid violations of child labor laws and you can demand that all workers are covered by workers compensation insurance.

Do not let a child near a construction site. Too much liability for the homeowner.

Violations of child labor laws?!?
DCUM, you never disappoint.

If the child touches something on the construction site, a lawsuit can definitely come up with this. Just as the homeowner can be sued.

You don't understand the nature of our legal system. The mere costs associated with responding to a lawsuit are sometimes prohibitive and lead to settlements out of court. There are all kinds of complications and expenses to litigation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your issue. It's the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the safety of everyone brought on site and also the team lead's responsibility to ensure that his/her crew is not distracted.

If you were not in the house while they worked, would it matter to you if you knew that the contractor had brought a kid to your house the day before?

Just because you are the customer, you don't get to tell them how to do their jobs or manage their staff.

What? On your property you certainly can dictate that you don’t want non-workers or guests of the workers- whether they be adults or children on site. How is not my issue who enters my home.

FYI someone has definitely spit in your food before.

Anonymous wrote:It's not your issue. It's the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the safety of everyone brought on site and also the team lead's responsibility to ensure that his/her crew is not distracted.

If you were not in the house while they worked, would it matter to you if you knew that the contractor had brought a kid to your house the day before?

Just because you are the customer, you don't get to tell them how to do their jobs or manage their staff.

What? On your property you certainly can dictate that you don’t want non-workers or guests of the workers- whether they be adults or children on site. How is not my issue who enters my home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your issue. It's the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the safety of everyone brought on site and also the team lead's responsibility to ensure that his/her crew is not distracted.

If you were not in the house while they worked, would it matter to you if you knew that the contractor had brought a kid to your house the day before?

Just because you are the customer, you don't get to tell them how to do their jobs or manage their staff.

You can forbid violations of child labor laws and you can demand that all workers are covered by workers compensation insurance.

Do not let a child near a construction site. Too much liability for the homeowner.

Violations of child labor laws?!?
DCUM, you never disappoint.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your issue. It's the responsibility of the contractor to ensure the safety of everyone brought on site and also the team lead's responsibility to ensure that his/her crew is not distracted.

If you were not in the house while they worked, would it matter to you if you knew that the contractor had brought a kid to your house the day before?

Just because you are the customer, you don't get to tell them how to do their jobs or manage their staff.

You can forbid violations of child labor laws and you can demand that all workers are covered by workers compensation insurance.

Do not let a child near a construction site. Too much liability for the homeowner.

Are you for real? Bring your child to work day is not a violation of child labor laws. Taking a child to work and showing them what is going on and letting them do some very basic child-appropriate functions is not child labor.

The child is not covered by worker's compensation nor does he need to be. If he gets injured while on the job site, his father (remember, the construction foreman/supervisor?) has personal insurance that will cover the child. The accident happened when the child was in the care of his father and his father is responsible for bringing the child onto his work site. So, their personal insurance covers this. Just like if I bring my child to the office and he gets hurt while with me, my personal insurance is covering the injury and medical treatment. Unless the child was there in an official capacity and brought on by the company holding the contract, neither the contractor, nor the customer (in this case, OP) is responsible.

The father who brought the child is responsible for the child's well-being and insurance. And there is no liability to the customer unless the customer did something that was clearly negligent. In this case, any danger to the child is his father's responsibility.

If it's a regular thing I'd say something, but only once you let it go. Unless you want to be known as a PITA that doesn't understand how most people don't have the resources to deal with a childcare emergency, and you are willing to pay the extra costs and timeline delays they'll add for that. The world is more complicated than just telling people they can't bring their kids on site because you're worried about liability.

Anonymous wrote:Is the job still getting done? I would not care, this is there problem.

Occasionally my cleaning person will bring one of her kids. I don't care! Childcare is expensive and sometimes falls through.

It's not about that. It's about potential liability when/if something happens in your house. What if the kid gets injured tripping over your power cord? or break a bone??

I am from and my parents live in the south and this happens ALL the time and it makes me SO nervous. And my relatives are like, oh, that's ok, it's his granddaddy.

Is the job still getting done? I would not care, this is there problem.

Occasionally my cleaning person will bring one of her kids. I don't care! Childcare is expensive and sometimes falls through.