Cases - Cormack v Washbourne

Record details

Name

Cormack v Washbourne

Date

[1996]

Citation

EGCS 196, CA

Legislation

• Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
• Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982

Keywords

Negligence in valuations and surveys

Summary

The defendant, in carrying out a building survey of a house for potential purchasers, reported that cracks that he had discovered were sufficiently serious to merit further investigation. In a highly controversial decision, the Court of Appeal agreed with the trial judge that, despite reporting in such terms, the surveyor had been negligent in not examining the geological survey map of the area. Had he done so, he would have warned the purchasers that the house might well be built on clay, in which case they would have withdrawn from the purchase.