NC Anti-Indemnity Statue Update, New Changes Now In Effect

On July 8, 2019, Governor Roy Cooper signed into law HB 871, significantly altering North Carolina's anti-indemnity statute, N.C. Gen. Stat § 22B-1 ("Anti-Indemnity Statute"), particularly as it relates to indemnity agreements in design professional contracts.

Indemnity

In general terms, an indemnity agreement is an agreement to make good and save another harmless from loss on some obligation which he or she has incurred or is about to incur to a third-party.  The indemnity agreement obligates the promisor to reimburse his or her promisee for loss suffered or to save him or her harmless from liability.  The indemnity obligation typically applies if a third-party makes a claim against the promisee that was caused by the promisor.  While the indemnity obligation is not fully triggered until the third-party's claim prevails, the obligation to indemnify is often coupled with a duty to defend the promisee from the third-party claim.