Architect did not owe duty of care in respect of fire damage caused by a third party

In Rushbond plc v The J S Design Partnership LLP [2020] EWHC 1982 (TCC), O’Farrell J held that the defendant architects did not owe the claimant a common law duty of care in respect of fire damage to property caused by a third party, when intruders gained access to the claimant’s property after an employee of the defendant had left the claimant’s property unlocked for an hour while carrying out an inspection of the property on behalf of potential purchasers. The defendant was held not to have assumed a responsibility towards the claimant to safeguard the claimant’s property from harm and, given the general rule of English law that there is no general duty to prevent harm being done by a third party, there was held to be no basis on which it could be said that the defendant owed a common law duty of care to the claimant.