Design Liability & Quality Flashcards
How does procurement affect liability of the parties
Chosen procurement routes allocates design and construction risk
Sale of Goods Act 1982
Contracts for provision of services = reasonable skill and care obligation
Construction activity is considered supply of of services
What is reasonable
What a reasonably competent contractor/designer would have done
Test for professional negligence
“Reasonable skill and care”
Greaves & co (Contractors) Ltd v Baynham Meikle & Partners 1975
Partial liability
Parties can be jointly negligent
Lindenberg v Canning and others 1992
Contractor duty when inheriting design
Contractor has a duty to check the adequacy of preliminary designs when inheriting them from others
Co-operative Insurance Society Ltd v Henry Boot Scotland Limited 2002
Client duty under traditional procurement where contractor has design elements
Client obligated to check adequacy of contractor designs exercising reasonable skill and care
John Mowlem & Co v British Insulated Callenders Pension Trusts Ltd and Ors 1977
Insufficiently detailed contract documents implications on contractor
Any attempt to “fill in the gaps” by the contractor makes it liable for design
Contractor duty if defective design
Duty to warn the client of defects in desing
What are the contractor’s main responsibilities (design)
“The contractor design the parts of the works which the scope states the contractor is to design” (21.1)
Secondary clause X15 Contractor’s Design - “the contractor is not liable for a defect which arose from its design unless it failed to carry out that design using the skill and care normally used by professionals designing works similar to the works” (X15.1)
Can a mistake cause deficient design without liability if exercising reasonable skill and care while pushing technological boundaries
Yes, so long as the injured party did not suffer a loss
