All change in the world of building safety

The big legal topic for the development and construction industry continues to be the reform of building safety law.

The review of the UK’s building safety regime which was triggered by the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in 2017 is ongoing. However, one piece of building safety legislation which was previously underutilised has already been the subject of significant reform. The Defective Premises Act 1972 (“DPA”) was initially intended to give individual purchasers of houses and flats rights where they found themselves in homes which were not designed or built to minimum standards.

It provides that property developers, contractors and consultants who take on work for, or in connection with, the provision of domestic dwellings are required to see that the work is done in a workmanlike or, as the case may be, professional, manner using proper materials. The obligation is to see that the dwelling will be fit for habitation.

The more recent Building Safety Act 2022 extended the DPA beyond the building of of new homes to apply to any work undertaken to an existing dwelling (extension etc).

Also, claims under the DPA can now be made relying on a 30-year retrospective time limit for historical claims which accrued before June 2022, or a 15-year limit for claims which arose after that date.

Further, the Building Safety Act now provides that claims which might otherwise have disappeared into a black hole where the original developer or other DPA defendant is no longer around, such as due to insolvency or corporate restructuring, can now be made against third parties who are associated with the original defendant. These associates include being a parent or sister company.

There were only a few court cases relating to claims made under the DPA but in the post Grenfell Tower environment with the greater focus on building safety issues that position is changing dramatically.

The Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, will shortly confirm in the case of URS Corporation v BDW Trading whether commercial operators can use the DPA to bring claims in the same way that individual purchasers have been able to.

The court has already confirmed that rather than having to bring claims under the DPA via an expensive and time-consuming court action, a DPA claim can be made under most forms of construction-related contracts via the construction sector’s fast-track adjudication dispute resolution procedure under which a legally-binding decision can be made in just 28 days.

What was a little-known piece of building safety law in the form of the DPA is shaping up to have a much more significant role in regard to building safety issues. This is extending the rights of those impacted by defects in dwellings and requiring those in the development and construction sector to review practices, policies and procedures.