Risk allocation in relation to the existing site

In John Sisk and Son Ltd v Capital & Centric (Rose) Ltd [2025] EWHC 594 (TCC) Judge Stephen Davies, sitting as a Judge of the High Court, held that, on a proper construction of the contract between the parties, the risk of the unsuitability of the existing structures, including their ability to support and/or facilitate the proposed works, was on the defendant employer. The decisive point was a document in which it was stated that the employer was to insure the existing buildings and the risk was described as "Employer Risk". While there were other contractual documents which were relied upon to support the proposition that the risk lay with the contractor, these documents were held to be insufficient to displace the "normal or natural meaning" of the words "Employer Risk".