The Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduced House Bill 1886, legislation amending Act 164 of 1970, which relates to Indemnification Agreements in certain contracts. Like Act 164, the bill itself appears to cover agreements between "architects, engineers or surveyors and owners, contractors, subcontractors or suppliers."
Beyond the limited Act 164, Pennsylvania does not have an anti-indemnity statute regarding contracts for the industries identified above. While there is some case law governing indemnity language, Pennsylvania has no clear statutory prohibition of broad and intermediate forms of indemnity. It appears this proposed legislation would allow only for a limited form of indemnification, exclusively for losses caused by the negligence of the indemnifying party. This legislation is similar to anti-indemnity statues in neighboring states like Delaware, New York, and Ohio.
There have also been recent anti-indemnity statutes passed specifically focused on snow and ice management contracts. Those bills passed in Illinois, Colorado and Connecticut.
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