Inspection Duties And Temporary Disconformities

Construction professionals’ inspection duties are notoriously difficult to define but often ground negligence actions.

The wordings of appointments vary significantly. For instance, the RIBA forms used to require the architect to supervise the works. This was diluted to inspections in the 1982 and 1992 forms. The 1999 form merely requires the architect to "make visits to the works in connection with [his] design" but this is still thought to include a duty to inspect the works.

Last Wednesday the Technology and Construction Court (in McGlinn v Waltham) gave its first guidance for some years on inspection duties. The guidance applies to architects under the above forms and inspecting consultants under similar contracts: