Planning Permission: Who's Responsible For It?

The recent case of Jean-François Clin v Walter Lilly & Co. Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 490 confirms that, without express terms to the contrary in the contract, the employer will usually be responsible for obtaining planning permission for the works it wants carried out. However, for certainty, you should expressly allocate risk under a construction contract. Leaving the courts to decide whether certain risks were allocated to certain parties is a risky business, not to mention time consuming and costly.

Background

Mr Clin owned two adjoining properties within the Kensington Palace Conversation Area. He entered into a JCT Building Contract with Quantities 2005 edition incorporating Revision 2 (2009) with Walter Lily on 25 September 2012 (the "Contract"). The works consisted of demolition, reconstruction and refurbishment to the buildings to create a single dwelling-house (the "Works").