Cases - Eames London Estates Ltd v North Hertfordshire DC and others

Record details

Name

Eames London Estates Ltd v North Hertfordshire DC and others

Date

(1981)

Citation

259 EG 4991

Keywords

Contract administration

Summary

The third defendant, Mr Hyde, was an architect operating from business premises in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. In 1964, Mr Hyde prepared a design for the development of land adjacent to a railway line and partially comprised of landfill. The foundations were negligently designed and the building suffered serious subsidence as the natural consolidation of the fill began to let down the surface.

The official referee found that it was no defence for an architect faced with an allegation of negligence to contend that he had ascertained what was sufficient in terms of loading to get around the local authority. On the facts, the architect failed to take any boring readings and, critically, put aside a query over sufficiency of loading and foundation depth when it was raised on the spot during construction. The official referee quoted from and approved an extract from the written expert report:

'I consider it normal practice for an architect to draw his client's attention to the need for ground conditions to be investigated. Also, that the client be advised of the possible need for a qualified structural engineer to be employed to carry out a detailed site investigation, if the architect was uncertain in any way of the type and bearing capacity of the ground.'