Professional Negligence In The Construction Field

Originally published July 2009

Construction professionals, as with other professionals, may be liable to their clients and third parties for damage and loss caused by the professional's negligence. The starting point in any professional negligence claim is to consider whether the losses are recoverable in contract. However, liability in tort becomes important where the contractual route is unavailable: where the arrangement of commercial transactions results in no direct contractual relationship between the parties, where one of the parties has become insolvent or where the limitation period in contract has expired.

Not every careless act or fault on the part of a professional gives rise to liability in negligence, even where damage is sustained by another as a result.¹ In order to establish a claim in negligence, it is necessary for a claimant to satisfy the following requirements: