Consultants' Design Obligations: Understanding The Endpoint

In Lendlease Construction (Europe) Limited v Aecom Limited [2023] EWHC 2620 (TCC), the English Technology and Construction Court (TCC) examined the nature and extent of a Consultant's obligations to a Main Contractor under a contract to provide mechanical and electrical consultancy services.

Lendlease, who was appointed as the Main Contractor under a design and build contract for the construction of a new Oncology Centre at St. James' University Hospital in Leeds (D&B Contract), engaged Aecom to provide mechanical and electrical engineering consultancy services under a Consultancy Agreement.

In 2019, a dispute arose concerning the Consultant's obligations under the Consultancy Agreement. The Main Contractor argued that the Consultant was responsible for the design of the mechanical and electrical services and the lead consultant responsible for the Fire Safety Strategy and the design thereof, thus suggesting that it had sub-contracted to the Consultant