PARTS NOT REASONABLY FIT FOR THEIR PURPOSE

In Makers (UK) Ltd v BSS Group plc [2011] EWCA Civ 809, [2011] All ER (D) 185 (Jul) the Court of Appeal held that the defendant sellers had breached the implied term that goods supplied under a contract of sale must be reasonably fit for the purpose for which they were bought. The claimants had impliedly made known to the defendants the purpose for which the goods had been bought, the goods had not been fit for their purpose and the claimants had relied upon the defendants’ skill and judgment. The buyers were held impliedly to have made known their purpose in buying the goods through their prior orders for the project in question. In effect the sellers should have realised that the buyers’ order was linked back to their earlier orders and they should have ensured that the products supplied were compatible with the products that had been supplied under the earlier orders for the same project.