Professional Negligence In Construction A Journey Of 35 Years

Professional Negligence In Construction A Journey Of 35 Years Presented by: Prof. Parkin and Prof. Molloy Date: 18 November 2022 The Law in 1987 - Hedley Byrne v Heller & Partners [1964] - recovery of economic loss in tort where a special relationship exists - Defective Premises Act 1972 s1(1) - Pirelli v Oscar Faber & Partners [1983] Damage, for the purposes of the accrual of a cause of action in tort means physical damage to the building - Latent Damage Act 1986 (s14A Limitation Act) • Special time limits for negligence actions where facts relevant to a cause of action are not known at the date of accrual - 3 years from the date of knowledge of "material facts about the damage in relation to which damages are claimed" The Nature Of The Economic Loss Suffered - - Damage to Property Interests • Murphy v Brentwood [1991] • Overturning Anns & explaining Pirelli as a Hedley Byrne case Damage to other Economic Interests • How v Southern [2010] • Co-op v Birse [2014] Limitation & Accrual of a Cause of Action - Damage to Proprietary Rights • Pirelli - a latent defect does not give rise to a cause of action until (physical) damage occurs. • - Abbot v Will Gannon & Smith [2005] Damage to other Economic Interests • Linklaters v McAlpine & How [2010] • Co-op v Birse [2014] The Next 35 Years: A New Approach? - Invercargill CC v Hamlin [1996] Privy Council - Abbott v Will Gannon [2005] Court of Appeal - BDW Trading v. URS [2021] TCC Areas Covered - The pre-May 1998 landscape? - Where are we now? - Where are we going? The Pre May 1998 Landscape - The debate - The perceived training requirements The Debate - Contemporary Issues in Construction law – Volume II Construction Contract • Reform: A plea for sanity - edited by John Off QC  A collection of papers in opposition to the 1995-1997 reform proposals Where Are We Now? - An embedded part of the litigation landscape - An analogy with the official referee • Created by s.82 of the Judicature Act 1873 • Origin arose from increased use of arbitration by business v jury trial/litigation for technical disputes • Abolished by s.25 of the Courts Act 1971, but "official referees' business" continued - s.25(2) and (3) • TCC, now part of High Court of Justice - Business and Property Courts of England and Wales - S&T (UK) Limited v Grove Developments Limited [2018] Bresso Electrical Services Limited (in liquidation) v - Michael J Lonsdale (Electrical) Limited and Cannon Corporate Limited v Primus Build Limited [2019] EWCA Civ 27EWHC 123 (TCC) Coulson (L) J - With increased status, comes increased responsibility and scrutiny. • JJ Rhatigan & Co (UK) Ltd v Rosemary Lodge Developments Ltd [2019] EWHC 1152 (TCC) (08 May 2019) • RGB P&C Ltd v Victory House General Partner Ltd [2019] EWHC 1188 (TCC) (10 May 2019) • Willow Corp S.À.R.L. v MTD Contractors Ltd [2019] EWHC 1591 (TCC) (25 June 2019) • Core build Ltd v Cleaver & Anor [2019] EWHC 2170 (TC) Where Are We Going? - - Widening of the Process • Erosion of S.105 excluded operations • Widening to different industries e.g. Pubs Code Adjudicator Export of Process • Internationalizations • Previously common law/ex commonwealth countries, but now wider afield including civil code countries, e.g. Germany - Export/Transfer of Skills • Dispute Adjudication/Avoidance Boards in the UK • Evaluative mediation e.g. RICS