TCC ruling allows developers to pursue contractor group companies using Building Liability Orders.
The Technology and Construction Court has today (1 April) handed down a landmark judgment in Crest Nicholson v Ardmore, significantly expanding the scope of Building Liability Orders (BLOs) under the Building Safety Act.
In a decision with potential wide-ranging implications for the construction sector, the court granted both an order enforcing a £14.9m adjudicator’s award and, for the first time, an “anticipatory” BLO extending potential future liabilities to other companies in the contractor’s corporate group.
Extended liability
The case arose from building safety defects at a residential development, where Crest Nicholson had obtained a substantial adjudication award against Ardmore. With concerns over the contractor’s ability to satisfy the award, Crest Nicholson sought to extend liability to associated entities within the Ardmore group.
The court agreed, confirming that adjudicators’ decisions can underpin a BLO. It also went further, holding that the statutory regime allows the court to impose liability on a forward-looking basis, even where claims have not yet been finally determined.
BLOs are designed to prevent developers and contractors from avoiding responsibility for building safety defects through corporate structuring or insolvency. The legislation enables the court to make associated companies jointly or severally liable for such defects.
The judgment is the first to confirm that BLOs can be deployed in anticipation of future liabilities, as well as in support of adjudication awards.
