Cases - Fairweather v London Borough of Wandsworth

Record details

Name

Fairweather v London Borough of Wandsworth

Date

[1987]

Citation

38 BLR 106

Keywords

Construction contracts – extension of time – delay - causation – dominant cause – assessment of additional cost - contract administration

Summary

This case demonstrates the application of the 'dominant cause' approach to the determination of extensions of time and to the calculation of loss and expense. In this case, the contractor (Fairweather) was delayed, because the employer was late in giving possession of a small but critical area of the site. The dominant cause approach was applied to give the contractor an extension of time. However, during consideration of the assessment of additional cost, the court found that this delay caused only a small part of the contractor's actual prolongation costs. The majority of these costs were caused by reason of other events for which the contractor was responsible.