---
kind: "section"
citation: "33 U.S.C. § 904"
title: "33"
title_heading: "Navigation and Navigable Waters"
number: "904"
heading: "Liability for compensation"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/33/904"
units:
  - "Chapter 18 — Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation"
---

# §904. Liability for compensation

- (a) Every [employer](/usc/33/902.md?p=4) shall be liable for and shall secure the payment to his [employees](/usc/33/902.md?p=3) of the [compensation](/usc/33/902.md?p=12) payable under sections [907](/usc/33/907.md), [908](/usc/33/908.md), and [909](/usc/33/909.md) of this title. In the case of an [employer](/usc/33/902.md?p=4) who is a subcontractor, only if such subcontractor fails to secure the payment of [compensation](/usc/33/902.md?p=12) shall the contractor be liable for and be required to secure the payment of [compensation](/usc/33/902.md?p=12). A subcontractor shall not be deemed to have failed to secure the payment of [compensation](/usc/33/902.md?p=12) if the contractor has provided insurance for such [compensation](/usc/33/902.md?p=12) for the benefit of the subcontractor.
- (b) [Compensation](/usc/33/902.md?p=12) shall be payable irrespective of fault as a cause for the [injury](/usc/33/902.md?p=2).

## Source credit

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

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–426 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 Pub. L. 98–426 effective Sept. 28, 1984, and applicable both with respect to claims filed after Sept. 28, 1984, and to claims pending on that date, see section 28(a) of Pub. L. 98–426, set out as a note under section 901 of this title.