ARCHITECTS NOT LIABLE FOR FLOOD DAMAGE

Baxall Securities Ltd v Sheard Walshaw Partnership (a firm) [2002] EWCA Civ 89 (unreported, 22 January 2002)

The Court of Appeal in Baxall Securities Ltd v Sheard Walshaw Partnership (a firm) [2002] EWCA Civ 89 (unreported, 22 January 2002) has allowed the defendant architect’s appeal from the decision of Judge Bowsher ( [2001] BLR 36, on which see our April 2001 issue, pp.1–3). It held that the defendants were not liable for defects in the design of the building because the defect, namely the absence of overflows, was patent and so should have been discovered by the claimants or their professional advisers. Actual knowledge of the defect, or a reasonable opportunity for inspection that would unearth the defect, will usually negative the duty of care or at least break the chain of causation unless it is reasonable for the claimant not to remove the danger posed by the defect and run the risk of injury. On the facts of the case the Court of Appeal concluded that the only effective cause of both of the floods was the absence of overflows and that defect ought reasonably to have been identified and remedied by the claimants. It therefore followed that the defendants were not liable for the losses suffered by the claimants in the floods.