It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 28-29 of the General Laws entitled "Workers' Compensation -- General Provisions" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

{ADD 28-29-6.1. Secondary provision of workers' compensation insurance. -- ADD} {ADD (a) Whenever a general contractor or a construction manager shall enter into a contract with a subcontractor for work to be performed in Rhode Island, the general contractor or construction manager shall at all times require written documentation evidencing that the subcontractor carries workers' compensation insurance with no indebtedness for its employees for the term of the contact. In the event that the general contractor or construction manager fails to obtain said written documentation from the subcontractor, the general contractor or construction manager shall be deemed to be the employer pursuant to provisions of section 28-29-2.

(b) For the purposes of this section, "construction manager" means an individual corporation, partnership or joint venture, or other legal entity responsible for supervising and controlling all aspects of construction work to be performed on the construction project, as designated in the project documents, in addition to the possibility of performing some of the construction services itself. For the purposes of this section, the construction manager need have no contractual involvement with any of the parties to the construction project other than the owner, or may contract directly with the trade contractors pursuant to its agreement with the owner. ADD}

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.