Cladding, specification breaches and waking watch

Martlet Homes Ltd v Mulalley & Co Ltd [2022] EWHC 1813 (TCC)

In Martlet Homes Ltd v Mulalley & Co Ltd [2022] EWHC 1813 (TCC), Judge Stephen Davies, sitting as a judge of the High Court, held, in a case which is likely to attract considerable interest, that the defendant contractor was liable to the claimant for the cost of replacement of the cladding which it had installed on high-rise blocks and also for waking watch costs which had been incurred. The former were recoverable because the claimant had established that the cladding as specified did not meet the applicable regulatory standards at the date of the contract. Had the claimant only been able to establish a breach in relation to the installation of the cladding, then damages would have been recovered on a more limited basis. However, the waking watch costs were held to be recoverable whether the breach was one that related to the specifications or the installation, although in the case of an installation breach only the damages recovered would have been lower because they would have been calculated over a shorter time period.