33 USC § 904 - Liability for compensation

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t33/s904"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "33 USC § 904 - Liability for compensation"
title_number: 33
title_name: "NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS"
section_number: "904"
section_name: "Liability for compensation"
chapter_number: 18
chapter_name: "LONGSHORE AND HARBOR WORKERS’ COMPENSATION"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Mar. 4, 1927, ch. 509, § 4, 44 Stat. 1426; Pub. L. 98–426, § 4(a), Sept. 28, 1984, 98 Stat. 1641.)"
---


# § 904. Liability for compensation

**(a)** Every employer shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his employees of the compensation payable under sections 907, 908, and 909 of this title. In the case of an employer who is a subcontractor, only if such subcontractor fails to secure the payment of compensation shall the contractor be liable for and be required to secure the payment of compensation. A subcontractor shall not be deemed to have failed to secure the payment of compensation if the contractor has provided insurance for such compensation for the benefit of the subcontractor.

**(b)** Compensation shall be payable irrespective of fault as a cause for the injury.

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**Source Credit**: (Mar. 4, 1927, ch. 509, § 4, 44 Stat. 1426; Pub. L. 98–426, § 4(a), Sept. 28, 1984, 98 Stat. 1641.)

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a).  amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: “Every employer shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his employees of the compensation payable under sections 907, 908, and 909 of this title. In the case of an employer who is a subcontractor, the contractor shall be liable for and shall secure the payment of such compensation to employees of the subcontractor unless the subcontractor has secured such payment.”

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

Amendment by  effective , and applicable both with respect to claims filed after , and to claims pending on that date, see , set out as a note under .