PARTIAL RELIANCE AND FITNESS FOR PURPOSE

Jewsons Ltd v Boykan [2004] BLR 31

In Jewsons Ltd v Boykan [2004] BLR 31 the Court of Appeal held that the sellers of boilers were not liable to the buyer when the result of the installation of the boilers in the flats which the buyer was converting was to produce a much lower SAP rating than the flats had initially been given. The boilers were of satisfactory quality because they were not sub-standard and, in relation to the claim that the boilers were not fit for their purpose, the Court of Appeal held that the buyer was not entitled to rely on the sellers in relation to the energy efficiency of the boilers when installed in the flats. While the sellers knew, or should have known, about the characteristics of the boilers, they did not know anything about the characteristics of the flats. The fitness of the boilers for use in the flats was a matter which was within the knowledge of the buyer and his advisers and the buyer was not entitled to visit on the sellers the losses which had been sustained as a result of the business misjudgement made as a consequence of installing the boilers in the particular flats in which they were installed.