Construction Claim Rules in Louisiana

Statutory interest rate

Floating, ~3.25 points above the Fed discount rate, reset every January 1

For a contract/construction claim, damages for late payment are measured by interest from the date each sum became due, at the parties' agreed contract rate if there is one, or otherwise the legal interest rate, which cross-references Louisiana's judicial interest rate, recalculated annually as 3.25 percentage points above the Federal Reserve Board's discount rate, certified each October by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions for the following calendar year. Because it resets yearly, the current-year figure must be pulled fresh rather than hardcoded.

Compounding: Simple

Citation: La. Civ. Code art. 2000; La. R.S. 9:3500; La. R.S. 13:4202

Source: https://www.lsba.org/newintcalc.htm

Last checked: 2026-08-25

Interest on a contract claim runs from the date payment was due, though Louisiana courts commonly award it from judicial demand where the petition asks for that. Confirm which start date applies. The rate resets every January 1, so pull the current year's certified figure rather than using a stored number. At the last check, in August 2026, the formula worked out to about 7.00%.

Accrual: breach of contract claim

From the date each payment became due under the contract

Louisiana Civil Code article 2000 measures damages for delay in paying a sum of money as interest running from the time the sum became due, at the contract rate if agreed, or otherwise the legal interest rate. This is a date-of-breach-style rule, though Louisiana courts commonly award it from judicial demand instead where the petition specifically asks for interest from that date.

Citation: La. Civ. Code art. 2000

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/civil-code/article-2000/

Confirm whether your petition/pleading needs to specifically request interest from the date due, rather than from judicial demand, to preserve the earlier start date.

Accrual: property damage / tort claim

Not date of loss: from the date of judicial demand (when the lawsuit was filed)

For tort ('ex delicto') judgments, including property-damage claims, Louisiana law adds legal interest from the date of judicial demand, meaning when the lawsuit was filed, not from the date of loss itself.

Citation: La. R.S. 13:4203

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-13/rs-13-4203/

Like Michigan, Massachusetts and North Carolina's tort rule, Louisiana ties property-damage interest to the filing date rather than the date of loss, so filing promptly directly affects how much interest accrues.

Actual Cash Value rule

Replacement cost minus depreciation

Louisiana has no statute codifying the ACV valuation method itself; the rule comes from case law applying replacement cost at time of loss, minus depreciation. This is a minority approach compared to neighboring broad-evidence-rule states.

Citation: Hackman v. EMC Ins. Co., 984 So. 2d 139 (La. Ct. App. 2008); Nguyen v. St. Paul Travelers Ins. Co.

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1062043.html

Nguyen appears to exist only as an unpublished federal district court docket order from the Hurricane Katrina and Rita multidistrict litigation in the Eastern District of Louisiana, rather than a published opinion. Cite the specific order rather than a reporter citation.

ACV statute or regulation

Louisiana has an insurance-code statute governing ACV depreciation disclosure and barring certain deductions, but it does not prohibit depreciating labor.

La. R.S. 22:1892(A)(7) requires that a property insurance policy provide notice, in a form approved by the commissioner, that depreciation may be deducted or withheld and requires the insurer to give the policyholder a written explanation of how any depreciation was calculated, based on a combination of objective criteria and subjective assessment. The statute separately prohibits an insurer from deducting prospective contractor overhead, prospective contractor profit and sales tax when determining actual cash value on either a replacement cost or an actual cash value policy. It does not ban depreciation of labor cost itself; Louisiana federal courts applying Louisiana law (Shahan v. Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Co., W.D. La. 2022) have held that labor costs may be depreciated when computing ACV.

Citation: La. R.S. 22:1892(A)(7)

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-22/rs-22-1892/

Recoverable depreciation holdback

Louisiana statute regulates the condition an insurer may impose before releasing withheld depreciation, but does not set a deadline for paying it out.

La. R.S. 22:1892(A)(7) allows an insurer that issues a replacement cost policy to refuse to pay a claim for withheld recoverable depreciation or a replacement cost holdback until it receives reasonable proof that the policyholder has paid any applicable deductible. Acceptable proof includes a canceled check, money order receipt, credit card statement or a copy of an executed installment or other financing arrangement for the deductible. The statute does not specify a deadline by which the insurer must pay the holdback once that proof, or proof of completed repairs, is submitted.

Citation: La. R.S. 22:1892(A)(7)

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-22/rs-22-1892/

The statute sets a condition for release but no payout deadline. Check the Department of Insurance's own bulletins before treating the absence of a deadline as complete.

“No damages for delay” clause enforceability

Void by statute for public contracts; unclear (no case law found) for private contracts

Louisiana law declares against public policy and void, any provision in a public contract that waives, releases or extinguishes a contractor's right to recover cost or damages, or to obtain an equitable adjustment, for delay caused in whole or in part by acts or omissions within the control of the contracting public entity or those acting on its behalf. The offending provision is severed while the rest of the contract stands. No Louisiana case or statute addresses enforceability in a private construction contract.

Citation: La. R.S. 38:2216(H)

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-38/rs-38-2216/

The statute is written around public contracts, works and improvements. Do not assume it reaches a purely private Louisiana construction contract.

Construction contract filing deadline

10 years for a written contract claim (prescription, in Louisiana's civil-law terminology)

Louisiana's general prescriptive period (its civil-law term for a limitations period) for a personal action arising from a contract, including a written construction contract, is 10 years from the date the cause of action arose, unless a shorter period is otherwise specifically prescribed. Two deadlines sit in front of that one on most construction claims. A mechanic's lien and a payment bond claim each run on their own, far shorter clock, counted from last furnishing rather than from breach and missing either one removes the security while leaving the contract claim alive but unsecured. Check those dates first. Accrual is the other half of the question: the period runs from breach, which on a payment dispute is usually the date payment came due rather than the date the work was done.

Citation: La. Civ. Code art. 3499

Source: https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/civil-code/article-3499/

Louisiana uses civil law terminology: prescription rather than limitations. A construction defect claim may fall under a separate peremptive period instead of this general rule.

State unemployment insurance (SUTA)

New employers pay the average rate for their industry (NAICS classification), floored at 1.00% and capped at 6.20%. Experienced employers fall into two disjoint bands: 0.09% to 1.94% for positive-rated employers, or 2.2% to 6.20% for negative-rated employers (no employer falls between 1.94% and 2.2%). The 2026 taxable wage base is $7,000.

Louisiana sets the new-employer rate at the average rate for employers in the same industrial classification, subject to a statutory floor of 1.00% and ceiling of 6.20%. Experience-rated employers are split into positive-rated (0.09% to 1.94%) and negative-rated (2.20% to 6.20%) categories. The taxable wage base for 2026 is $7,000 per employee, down $700 from the 2025 base of $7,700.

Citation: Louisiana Workforce Commission, 2026 Unemployment Insurance Contribution Rate Table

Source: https://www.laworks.net/Downloads/UI/WTS/2026RateTable.pdf

Last checked: 2026-08-26

The experience-rated range is not a continuum. It splits into two bands with a gap between 1.94% and 2.20%. Reconfirm the rate and wage base each year on the Workforce Commission's rate table, since both reset annually.

Workers' compensation rating

Louisiana is an NCCI state. NCCI files advisory loss costs, which carriers load with their own expense factors to set final rates.

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is licensed in Louisiana to make recommended loss cost filings on behalf of workers' compensation insurers. Insurers use NCCI's approved loss costs as the base for their own rates, typically applying a company-specific loss cost multiplier for expenses and profit. NCCI's most recent filing (November 2025, effective May 1, 2026) proposed a 5.3% decrease in loss costs based on 2021-2023 policy year experience.

Citation: NCCI, Louisiana State Advisory Forum Report

Source: https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Documents/II_StateAdvisoryForumState_LA-State-Advisory-Report-2025.pdf

Prevailing wage law

Louisiana has no state prevailing wage law. Its former statute was repealed in 1988 and no successor law has been enacted.

Louisiana does not maintain a state-level prevailing wage requirement for public construction contracts. A prior state prevailing wage statute was repealed in 1988. Public construction in Louisiana is governed instead by Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 38 (Public Contracts, Works and Improvements), which addresses bidding and contracting procedures but does not impose prevailing wage rates. Federal Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements still apply separately to any project receiving federal funding.

Citation: Husch Blackwell, Louisiana State-by-State Summary of Prevailing Wage; U.S. Department of Labor, Dollar Threshold Amount for Contract Coverage

Source: https://www.huschblackwell.com/louisiana-state-by-state-summary-of-prevailing-wage

The U.S. Department of Labor's summary confirms Louisiana has no prevailing wage law and notes the 1988 repeal. No reinstatement has been enacted since.

Comparative / contributory negligence rule

Modified comparative fault, recovery barred above 50% fault (51% bar)

Recovery is reduced in proportion to fault and barred once the worker is more than 50% at fault. A worker exactly 50% at fault still recovers half. Moved from pure comparative to a 51% bar effective 1 Jan 2026, applied prospectively. Accidents before that date remain under pure comparative fault.

Citation: La. Civ. Code art. 2323(A); 2025 La. Acts No. 15 (H.B. 431), eff. 1 Jan 2026

Source: https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/law.aspx?d=109387

Verified against: statute text of La. Civ. Code art. 2323 and the enrolled text of H.B. 431 (2025)

Non-economic damages cap

No general cap on non-economic damages

Most states cap non-economic damages only in medical malpractice actions, which does not reach a third-party construction claim. Economic losses, medical bills, lost wages, future earning capacity, are not capped by these statutes.

OSHA plan

Federal OSHA (no state plan)

Louisiana has no OSHA-approved state plan; both public and private employers fall under federal OSHA jurisdiction. Under federal jurisdiction the citation is issued by an OSHA area office and contested before the federal Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Federal OSHA does not cover state and local government employees, so a public employee injured on a public job falls outside it. Reporting deadlines are a work-related fatality within 8 hours, an inpatient hospitalisation, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours. For a construction claim the inspection file matters more than the citation: photographs, measurements, witness statements and the inspector's narrative are usually obtainable and are often the best contemporaneous record of the site.

Citation: 29 U.S.C. § 667 (State Plan roster)

Source: https://www.osha.gov/stateplans

Weight of an OSHA violation in a negligence case

Evidence of the standard of care in Louisiana, not negligence per se

A Louisiana appellate court allowed a defendant to introduce the OSHA standards the plaintiff was required to follow as evidence of the plaintiff's own contributory negligence, treating OSHA standards as relevant to the standard of care rather than as a basis for negligence per se. The Louisiana Supreme Court has not addressed the question directly.

Citation: Gatlin v. Entergy Corp., 2004-0034, 2004-1368 (La. App. 4 Cir. 5/4/05); 904 So. 2d 31, 35

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/la-court-of-appeal/1642589.html

Third-party contribution against the employer

Louisiana's statutory-employer doctrine is central on multi-tier projects and can protect a principal or general contractor that meets the statutory requirements.

Whether the principal or general contractor qualifies as a statutory employer is the threshold question. A party that does not qualify can be reached through premises defects, negligent activity, retained control, product defect or professional negligence.

Citation: La. Rev. Stat. §§23:1021 et seq.; Allen v. State ex rel. Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority, 842 So.2d 373 (La. 2003).

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-supreme-court/1161598.html

Injury-severity gate on contribution claims

General exclusivity under La. Rev. Stat. §§ 23:1021 et seq., with the statutory-employer doctrine deciding whether a principal or general contractor is protected

La. Rev. Stat. §§ 23:1021 et seq. make compensation the exclusive remedy against the employer and qualifying statutory employers. On multi-tier projects the statutory-employer analysis decides who is protected. The intentional-act exception is covered in the distinctive doctrine entry below. In practice exclusivity takes the direct employer off the tort table entirely, whatever the OSHA file shows. The claim runs against the other parties on the site: the general contractor, the owner, another subcontractor, an equipment manufacturer. The employer or its carrier then asserts a lien against whatever the worker recovers from those parties, so the figure the worker actually keeps is the recovery less the lien, the fee and the costs. Whether the lien is reduced for the cost of obtaining the recovery is a separate state question worth asking early, because it moves the net more than most people expect.

Citation: La. Rev. Stat. §§23:1021 et seq.; Allen v. State ex rel. Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority, 842 So.2d 373 (La. 2003).

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-supreme-court/1161598.html

Distinctive state doctrine

A notably narrow intentional-act exception, shown by a consistent line of cases rejecting claims

Louisiana's intentional-tort exception in La. R.S. 23:1032 is narrow. Disregarding OSHA safety provisions and using deficiently designed machinery has been held insufficient. Gross negligence in trying an untested work procedure and disregard for safety regulations or equipment has been held insufficient. Allowing or requiring employees to operate a dangerous piece of equipment, without more, is not an intentional tort.

Citation: La. R.S. 23:1032; Cortez v. Hooker Chemical & Plastics Corp., 402 So.2d 249 (La. App. 4th Cir. 1981); Dycus v. Martin Marietta Corp., 568 So.2d 592 (La. 1990)

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/la-court-of-appeal/1261329.html