HL 26 July 1990 Appeal by DOE against CA decision, dismissing its appeal against that part of the order made by ORC whereby he ordered that DOE had no cause of action against Thomas Bates (T) for damages for repairs undertaken to strengthen pillars in a tower block in Basildon , Essex. In its appeal, DOE contended, relying on Anns v Merton , that T owed them a duty of care and were liable for the cost of the repairing works the DOE had carried out. HL held that the loss suffered by the DOE in carrying out the repair works was purely economic loss and as such were not recoverable, because at the time that the work was being carried out, the building was not unsafe by reason of defective construction, but merely suffered a defect in quality which made the DOE`s lease less valuable than it would otherwise have been, in that the building could not be loaded to its design capacity, unless any occupier who wished to do so incurred the expenditure necessary to strengthen the pillars. Appeal