Cases - Babcock Energy Ltd v Lodge Sturtevant Ltd

Record details

Name

Babcock Energy Ltd v Lodge Sturtevant Ltd

Date

(1994)

Citation

CILL 981

Keywords

Construction claim - loss and expense claim - head of loss - damages - measure of loss - quantification - valuation

Summary

The claimant had contracted to provide boilers and ancillary equipment necessary for a power station. The claimant in turn subcontracted with the defendant for the provision of two electrostatic precipitators. Subsequently, it emerged that the electrostatic precipitators provided by the defendant did not meet the contract specifications. The claimant duly compensated the employer, and sought to recover the same sum from the defendant.

One of the heads of loss claimed related to the management time spent by the claimant in investigating the claim. The defendant submitted that no sum could be recovered in respect of this item because the staff costs were fixed and would have been incurred in any event: it was the cost of taking on additional agency staff which represented the true measure of loss. The Court rejected this argument, holding that it was sufficient to show (as the claimant had shown) that time was spent by permanent staff in dealing with the defendant's breach. The amount of time so spent was also a valid measure of loss.