Householder should have appointed safety supervisor for home extension work, judge rules

The judge dismissed the action against homeowner Gerry Twomey brought by plumber Pat McCarthy, 62, Ballymacarby, Co Waterford, who also works as a water services manager with the Tipperary Co Council.

A householder was in breach of a duty not to appoint a project supervisor for health and safety when he got an extension built to his home, a High Court judge ruled.

However, homeowner Gerry Twomey, of Shanbally, near Lemybrien, Co Waterford, was not liable for an injury caused to a worker when a steel nail on a pipe nail clip sprang back and hit his eye as he tried to nail it into a wall, Mr Justice David Keane also found.