Failure to mention asbestos
When selling or leasing property it is absolutely vital to answer pre-contract inquiries accurately and the consequences of not doing so can be severe.
In the case of First Tower Trustees Limited & Anr v CDS (Superstores International) Limited (2017), a tenant of warehouse premises was awarded a seven-figure compensation after asbestos was discovered shortly after the lease was signed.
In reply to the tenant’s inquiries prior to execution of the lease, the landlords stated that they were unaware of any environmental problems relating to the premises. The landlords had in fact received an email from a specialist firm which reported a health and safety risk arising from the presence of asbestos.
Soon after the lease was signed, the tenant discovered the asbestos problem and very substantial remedial works were required before it could take up occupation.
The High Court acknowledged that landlords do not generally warrant the state or condition of premises before they are let and that it is for tenants to make their own inquiries, by survey or otherwise.
However, the statement that the landlords knew nothing of any environmental issues, when they had in their possession information that clearly pointed to a serious problem, amounted to a misrepresentation.
A term of the lease stated that the tenant acknowledged that the lease had not been entered into in reliance on any statement or representation made by the landlords.
However, the Court found that that provision was highly unreasonable and did not enable the landlords to escape liability. The tenant was awarded the costs of the remedial works and of arranging alternative warehouse accommodation during the period that it took to complete them.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Asbestos.
- Asbestos cement.
- Asbestos management.
- Asbestos register.
- Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 CAR12.
- Failure to notify tenant.
- Five signs you are at risk of asbestos poisoning at work.
- Material non-disclosure.
- Misrepresentation and insurance.
- Pre-construction information.
- Property disrepair and landlord liabilities.
- The risk of asbestos on brownfield sites.
Featured articles and news
ECA 2022 Apprentice of the Year Award returns
Winner from last three to be announced in September.
The end of the games but continued calls for action.
From the Commonwealth Association of Architects.
CIOB respond to the government call for evidence
For the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Committee.
How are buildings and their occupants responding to extreme heat?
BSRIA's Technical Director reflects on recent weather patterns.
Landownership in England in 1909
A national valuation to fund old-age pensions.
The world’s largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing.
Long after the end of the defects liability period.
BSRIA Occupant Wellbeing survey BOW
Occupant satisfaction and wellbeing in buildings.
Geometric form and buildings in brief
From the simple to the complex.
Understanding the changing nature of insulation
And the UK Government guidelines.
Three year action plan to improve equity, diversity and inclusion
Commitment agreed to by major built environment bodies.
The Construction Route – what needs to change?
Electrical skills, low carbon, high-tech and the building services revolution.
Deep geothermal power possibilities
Ultra-deep drilling with millimeter-wave beam technology.
BSRIA Briefing 2022- From the outside looking in
Looking at the built environment from space.
Competence requirements for principal contractors and designers
BSI standards 8671, 8672 and 8673.
Bringing life to burial grounds.
From failed modernism to twenty-minute neighbourhoods.
Design chill and design freeze
The gates process and change control.
Neuroscience for project success
Why people behave as they do. APM book.