15/10/2014
Managing partner and litigation expert Charlotte Waters from Fisher Scoggins Waters chats to Heather Campbell about the pitfalls that can befall the home owner in relation to the Defective Premises Act. Charlotte has particular strength in the field of major property damage disputes – most typically design or construction defects.
Those who carry out work in the construction of a new dwelling in the course of a business owe a duty of care to any subsequent purchaser under the Defective Premises Act. A case in point is Zennstrom -v- Wilks and Moseley & Others which Charlotte successfully defended. Of this case, she says: “The property in question was sold by my clients to Swedish entrepreneur and Skype co-founder, Niklas Zennstrom. Once he bought the property Mr Zennstrom claimed it was poorly constructed and not fit for habitation and brought a considerable claim in the Technology and Construction Court against the architect, the structural engineer and my clients, Wilks and Moseley, who were the previous owners”. Charlotte continues: “Claims under the Defective Premises Act brought against a previous house owner will fail unless it is proved that that previous house owner developed the property said to be defective ‘in the course of a business’. In essence, Mr Zennstrom had to prove that my clients rebuilt their house, not as their dream home as many self builders do, but purely for profit.
Many architects and engineers don’t realise that the Defective Premises Act exists and with many newly-formed self builders referring to themselves as developers, I’m not sure they appreciate the implications under this Act of doing so.”
Charlotte has a real passion for engineering, manufacturing and construction, and is one of the few women in law specialising in these fields. She continues: “With the type of complex cases I am involved in, you have to be tenacious and determined to get to the facts, no matter how difficult or complex and this is one of the things that excites me. I believe I have one of the best jobs in the legal profession, working with great clients on extremely complicated issues, but using no-nonsense language that ensures they understand quickly what their legal position is”.
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Fisher Scoggins Waters is a leading construction, engineering and manufacturing litigation firm, specialising in disputes and disasters. For further information on this article or any of our litigation services, please contact us on +44 (0) 207 993 6960.