SUB-CONTRACTORS, INADEQUATE WORK PROGRAMMES AND THE DUTY TO WARN

Plant Construction plc v Clive Adams Associates and JMH Construction Services Ltd (unreported, 20 December 1999, CA)

Where a sub-contractor under a conventional tripartite building contract knows that the design of works which he is instructed to carry out is defective to the extent that, if the plan were carried out, the resultant work would obviously endanger human safety, he may owe a contractual duty to warn the contractor of the relevant danger, and may be liable to the contractor for losses in the form of both compensation paid to the employer and the cost of remedial works. The sub-contractor who raises reservations about the safety of the work, but who (against his better judgment) allows himself to be overruled, may nevertheless be liable for failing to argue his position with sufficient vigour.