000 01997nas a22002177a 4500
007 ta
008 250625s2025 xxk||||os||||o00| 0 eng d
041 _aeng
245 _aURS Corporation v BDW Trading Ltd
260 _a[2025] UKSC 21,
_bUK Supreme Court
_c21 May 2025
520 _aAppeal against decision in Court of Appeal dismissed. Where a developer aimed to remedy defects due to faulty design and carried out repairs to buildings it no longer owned, there was no "voluntariness principle" which operated as a bright-line rule of law to place the developer's losses outside the duty of care owed by the designer. Although the developer had repaired property which no longer belonged to it without any legally enforceable obligation to do so, it was arguable that it had had no realistic alternative in view of the risk that defects might cause injury to occupants and reputational damage to the developer, such that it was not exercising sufficiently full and free choice in effecting the repairs. The issues were whether BDW had suffered actionable damage, or whether the damage was outside the scope of the duty of care or too remote because it was voluntarily incurred; whether s.135 of the Building Safety Act 2022 applied; whether URS owed a duty to BDW under s.1(1)(a) of the Defective Premises Act 1972 and, if so, whether BDW's losses were recoverable for breach of that duty; and whether BDW was entitled to bring a claim against URS under s.1 of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 notwithstanding that there had been no judgment or settlement between BDW and any third party.
650 _aBUILDING SAFETY ACT 2022
650 _aCIVIL LIABILITY (CONTRIBUTION) ACT 1978
650 _aDEFECTIVE PREMISES ACT 1972
650 _aDEFECTIVE WORKS
650 _aLIABILITY
650 _aPROPERTY DEVELOPERS
650 _aRESIDENTIAL PROPERTY
651 _aUnited Kingdom
856 _uhttps://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2023-0110
_zAvailable from Supreme Court
999 _c122182
_d122182