2 South West Building & Construction SOUTH WEST


April 2011


BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION


Tavistock Newspapers Ltd, 14 Brook Street, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 0HE. Tel: 01822 613666 Fax: 01822 618222


INSIDE THIS ISSUE


■ Courses and seminars - Page 3 ■ Help with disability - Page 4 ■ Tax investigation warning - Page 6 ■ MAS Building Group- Page 7 ■ Aspects of Construction - Page 8 ■ Magazine celebrates 15th year - Page 9 ■ Working with wood - Page 29 ■ Products and Services - Page 30


CAPTION FOR FRONT PAGE PICTURES: News and information from the businesses on the front cover is featured in this issue of South West Building & Construction magazine.


Quote of the month


‘


I’m still a child, basically - Veteran pop singer Sir Elton John


Contractor liability STEPHEN


HOMER


Stephen Homer, a former chairman of the CIC South West (Devon & Cornwall), highlights a recent case.


How you can contact us


EDITORIAL Editor: Paul White


Main contributor: Andrew Townsend Paul White Communications


PO Box 40, Callington, PL18 9WB ADVERTISING:


Judith Jewell Tel/Fax 01837 658941 E-mail judithjewell@btinternet.com


MAILING LIST


If you have a change for our mailing list Tel 01822 615007 Fax 01822 618971


E-mail swbmail@internet-today.co.uk ’


IN the recent case of Robinson v PE Jones (Contractors) Ltd, the Court of Appeal had to decide whether a builder of a property owed the property’s owner a duty for any defects in the workmanship other than by reason of breach of contract. The property owner could not successfully allege breach of contract as the limitation period had expired so had to look at other causes of action. An inspection of the property’s gas fires and flues revealed that the flues had not been constructed in accordance with Building Regulations. Robinson sought to recover the cost of the remedial works from Jones. Robinson’s contractual claim was time-barred and he, therefore, sought to sue the builder relying on negligence instead. The owner’s problem was that generally the law will not allow an owner to sue a builder for economic loss as opposed to physical damage by reason of negligence unless it can be said that the relationship is such that the builder has assumed responsibility for such economic loss. In this case the only loss was the cost of rectifying the poorly constructed flues; which is classed as economic loss rather than physical damage. The important question was, therefore, whether the builder had put itself in a position of responsibility for economic loss. At the first trial, the judge held


that a builder could owe a duty of care for economic loss, but that in this case no such duty existed because the terms of the NHBC warranty reasonably excluded any duty which the builder may have


had. The builder appealed. The Court of Appeal agreed that the NHBC warranty would exclude any duty for economic loss. The court also stated that the builder had not assumed any responsibility for economic loss other than pursuant to the terms of the contract and any claim for breach of contract was timed barred. In its reasoning, the court examined the law as it stands and raised the following points: 1. There is no reason why a party cannot owe another party duties outside of contract and in contract at the same time. However, these duties may not be the same. 2. The contract governs the


parties’ obligations and remedies and it would be inconsistent with the concept of a contract if the law were to impose duties of care outside of contract far exceeding the parties’ contractual liabilities. 3. The law outside of contract generally imposes a more limited duty on a contractor to take reasonable care to protect the client against suffering personal injury or damage to other property but not for economic loss. 4. However, there may arise a liability for economic loss on professionals, such as architects and engineers, as opposed to contractors through the doctrine of assumption of responsibility. 5. Generally the law imposes no liability for economic loss on contractors outside of any contractual agreement they may have made. If anyone has any queries arising from this article, I can be contacted via email at s.homer@ashfords.co.uk.


South West Building & Construction Magazine


The magazine is now available to read on the world wide web


Visit: www.tavistock-today.co.uk and click on Special Publications


to view the magazine on line. Tel: Judith on 01837 658941 Email: judithjewell@btinternet.com


DISCLAIMER: The CIC SW (Devon & Cornwall) will not accept any responsibility for any loss occasional to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material included in this publication.


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