Tute 1 (Melany) Flashcards
What are the 3 main types of liability for an architect?
Liability in Contract
Liability in Statute
Liability in Tort (negligence)
Describe liability in contract.
Breach of contract is fundamentally the failure to fulfil the terms of a contract.
Architects should contract to provide services in accordance with a generally accepted standard for which they can obtain insurance.
Does liability in tort (negligence) rely on the existence on a contract between the two parties?
No.
Describe the 3 elements of negligence.
1 - the defendant must owe the plaintiff a duty of care
2 - the standard of care must have been breached
3 - the plaintiff must have suffered a loss or damage which is causally related to the breach.
Describe a ‘duty of care’.
It is an obligation not to cause harm to someone else.
A defendant will be held to owe a duty where he or she know or ought to realise that their statements are likely to be relied upon by the recipient.
Can an architect be liability to future owners/purchase?
Yes.
Subsequent purchases can make the assumption of a reliance on a contractor’s duty of care/skill.
This creates a relationship of proximity.
Describe the 4 elements required to determine a ‘relationship of proximity’.
1) there must be a connecting link between contractor and owner (the house, significant investment, and permanent structure).
2) there must be foreseeable that economic loss would result from negligent construction of the house.
3) No other person’e negligence interrupted the /interfered in the chain of causation.
4) Similarities between the relationship between original owner and contractor, and new owner and contractor.
AACA: the parties must be ‘sufficiently close’ so that it is ‘reasonably foreseeable’ that one party’s negligence would cause loss or damage to the other.
Does the CAA limit liability to your signed client? And if so, with regards to what liability?
Yes.
The CAA limits your liability in contract, to an amount that you specify in the schedules.
It does not limit your liability in tort (negligence) to third parties.
If a party is looking to sue and there is no contract in place, what would they sue you under?
They would sue you under tort (negligence).
Can a party sue you under tort (negligence) if the loss is purely economic?
Yes they can.
What does public liability insurance cover you for?
- For acts arising out of practices’s ownership and occupation of premises, activities on premises and conduct away from premises.
- Accidental bodily injury to persons
- Accidental loss or damage to property arising from conduct of business or ownership of premises.
