NO DUTY OWED TO SUBSEQUENT PURCHASER IN RESPECT OF DAMAGE TO BUILDING ITSELF

Bellefield Computer Services Ltd v E Turner & Sons Ltd ([2000] BLR 97)

In Bellefield Computer Services Ltd v E Turner & Sons Ltd [2000] BLR 97 the Court of Appeal held that a builder was not liable in the tort of negligence to a subsequent owner of the building for damage to the building itself which was attributable to the negligence of the builder but that the builder could be liable for damage to the contents of the building. Thus, where the negligence of the builder was alleged to take the form of the construction of a compartment wall which was inadequate to prevent the spread of fire, the builder was not liable for the damage to the building itself but only for the damage to the property of the claimant which was in the building and damaged in the fire. The Court of Appeal clearly felt some unease about this conclusion but regarded itself as bound to reach it by the decision of the House of Lords in Murphy v Brentwood District Council [1991] 1 AC 398.