ASSESSING THE DUTY OF CARE ARCHITECTS OWE TO THIRD PARTIES IN THE CASE OF FAILURE OF PROFESSIONAL DUTY UNDER ENGLISH LAW
ASSESSING THE DUTY OF CARE ARCHITECTS OWE TO THIRD PARTIES IN THE CASE OF FAILURE OF PROFESSIONAL DUTY UNDER ENGLISH LAW
Dr. Charles Chilombo Chifunda - The Copperbelt University, Zambia
Dr. Emmanuel Maganaris - University of Cumbria, United Kingdom
Prof. Nigel Foster - University of Cumbria, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT
The legal status of architects has undergone various changes in history from the ancient Babylonian time to date. The architect in history was highly exposed to a strict liability legal status towards third parties. Having realised this, a good degree of protection was then put on the architect and soon it was realised that the architect was too protected. The courts and society thereafter went on an assort to strip the architect of this protection leaving the architect subject to expanding liability to third parties. The introduction of the theory of negligence and the fall of privity, which was the architect’s greatest defence, left the architect open to third party actions. The introduction of various statutes equally exposed the architect to further third-party criminal actions. The profession of architecture has been defined and its duties which are basically the preparation of designs and specifications as well as the supervision of construction works to ensure adherence to plans and specifications. Liabilities may rightly arise out of these duties from third parties due to professional negligence. The subject of negligence has been outlined in this study and focused on the architect’s legal position from historical times to date. Through an analytical and deductive study, the factors which have increased the architect’s liabilities on third parties have also been identified and outlined. The study also identifies the defences available to an architect to prevent liability and it also looks at various ways to reduce the effect of liabilities incurred from third party claims. The study finally outlines the effects of the expanded liabilities from third parties on the profession of architecture.
