Construction Industry Law Letter
Contract interpretation – exclusion clauses – contra preferentum
Persimmon Homes and others v Ove Arup & Partners Limited and another
Court of Appeal; before Lord Justice Jackson, Lord Justice Beatson, Lord Justice Moylan; judgment delivered 25 May 2017The facts
In the early 1990s, Associated British Ports (‘ABP’) engaged Ove Arup & Partners Limited (‘Arup’) to advise in relation to
site clearance and reclamation works being undertaken at land near Barry docks, South Wales as part of a regeneration of that
area. ABP also engaged other consultants and contractors including Berridges, who were to investigate and report on the presence
of contaminants, in particular asbestos.