Cases - Daisley v Hall (B S) & Co

Record details

Name

Daisley v Hall (B S) & Co

Date

(1972)

Citation

225 EG 1553

Keywords

Negligence in valuations and surveys

Summary

The defendants carried out a building survey of a substantial residential property for the claimant purchasers. They reported that there was some evidence of settlement but said that this was not surprising in a property which was only a few years old.

After the claimants moved in, various cracks appeared, both externally and internally, which were found to be caused by shrinkage of the soil under the house. The surveyor was held to have been negligent, in that he should have realised that a row of substantial trees along one of the boundaries of the property and close to the house were poplars, and should then have gone on to discover that the house was built on shrinkable clay.