Cases - W Lamb Ltd (t/a The Premier Pump and Tank Co) v J Jarvis and Sons plc
Record details
- Name
- W Lamb Ltd (t/a The Premier Pump and Tank Co) v J Jarvis and Sons plc
- Date
- (1998)
- Citation
- 60 Con LR 1
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Construction contracts – causation – concurrent cause – apportionment of liability where there are concurrent causes – disapplication of dominant cause and but for test
- Summary
-
In this case HHJ Hicks QC considered that the decision in Tennant was binding upon him. The facts of this case were that the defendant was the main contractor for the construction of a service station and the claimant was the sub-contractor for the design, supply and installation of fuel tanks, pipework and pump fittings. The claimant installed the pipes and thereafter there was evidence of leaks. The pipes were removed and replaced by the claimant under a supplemental agreement. The issue was whether the claimant or defendant should bear the cost of the remedial works. There was evidence of defective work by both the claimant and defendant, but nothing pointing clearly to either as the sole cause of any particular leak.
The court (although invited to do so by the claimant) did not apply the dominant cause test, nor did it apply the 'but for' test to causation. The learned judge held that there was no rule of law preventing apportionment in the circumstances of that case. Further, although litigation about causation usually ended in a decision that only one cause was effective, this was not necessarily so as a matter of law.