Cases - Rapid Results College Ltd v Angell
Record details
- Name
- Rapid Results College Ltd v Angell
- Date
- (1986)
- Citation
- 277 EG 856, CA
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Commercial property - landlord and tenant – service charge – contribution to repairs demanded by certificate signed by landlord’s surveyor – whether works carried out to the roof were recoverable under the contribution
- Summary
-
Tenants of premises comprising the second (and top) floor of a building were required to contribute towards repair works, such contribution to be demanded by a certificate signed by the landlord's surveyor, whose decision was stated to be binding on the parties. The parapet of the building had to be rebuilt after the bricks became saturated with damp. The claim was based mainly on an item 'maintenance of the exterior', in a list of items of expenditure.
It was held that, in the context of the lease, the roof could not be regarded as part of the exterior of the offices. The court also rejected a submission that the claim could succeed under the head of repairs and maintenance in respect of parts of the building used in common by the landlord and tenants of other portions of the building. Furthermore, it was common ground that the landlord's surveyor's certificate was not conclusive as to whether items listed in the certificate did, as a matter of law, fall within the particular provision in the lease.