Damages: Calculating Diminution In Value

The Technology & Construction Court (TCC) has recently considered the issue of how to calculate diminution in value, in the context of a professional negligence claim against a structural engineer.

The claimant relied upon the engineer's report when purchasing a property. The TCC found that, as a matter of legal principle, there is nothing inherently wrong in using a date later than the date of the breach in question in order to calculate diminution in value. The guiding principles in ascertaining the diminution in value figure are that the date of the valuation used has to be:

• reasonable
  
  

• a date that gave rise to a loss that was directly linked to the breach