Jean

The plaintiff, respondent herein, was injured in the course of his employment as a structural iron worker; fell from a position 15 feet above the ground when the horizontal steel beams of a building then under construction shifted; and was impaled on a reinforcing rod which extended vertically above the concrete foundation below the area where he was working. He was employed by a subcontractor, viz. Pacific Iron & Steel Corporation, which had been engaged by the general contractor, viz., Collins Construction Co., a eor *414 poration, the defendant and appellant herein, to erect the steel skeleton for the subject building and to place a roof thereon. The cement foundation with vertical protruding reinforcing rods had been installed by the general contractor.

The plaintiff brought this action against the general contractor to recover damages for the injuries sustained, and the latter, in turn, filed a cross-complaint against the subcontractor to recover on an indemnity agreement for any loss it might incur in the premises.

Upon completion of the plaintiff’s case the defendant moved for a judgment of nonsuit, and the motion was granted. Thereafter the plaintiff moved for a new…