B claimed a contribution or indemnity from L under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 in respect of the cost of underpinning a block of flats where B had been building contractors and L consulting engineers. B carried out the remedial works and paid monies to the owner (S) in respect of losses incurred. The monies were subject to a settlement agreement, the date and terms of which were in issue. The preliminary issues to be considered were when the settlement agreement had been reached, whether the settlement gave rise to a claim for contribution, and when time had started had run under the Limitation Act 1980. L contended that the settlement was an agreement to carry out work at no cost to S, whereas the right to recover a contribution only arose where the person seeking it had made, or been ordered to make, payment, and also that correspondence between S and B had culminated in a settlement agreement of the claim which fell outside the limitation period. "Held" Parliament had not intended the Limitation Act to place any limit or restriction on the right of a person to claim a contribution from another liable in respect of the same damage. Section 10 of the Act was concerned with time limitation not narrowing the nature of the right to contribution. On the facts, although S had approved the work four years earlier and there may have been a contract, this did not constitute a settlement of the claim, and there was nothing in the correspondence to suggest that S had given up its claim against B. Time had started to run from a more recent settlement deed.