Blake Morgan warns of liability risk following Network Rail decision earlier this month
A construction lawyer is warning that occupiers of buildings with combustible polyethylene cladding may find legal letters arriving on their doormats from tenants of neighbouring buildings.
Writing in this week鈥檚 黑洞社区 magazine, James Bessey, partner in law firm Blake Morgan鈥檚 construction team, said: 鈥淒amage is not always an essential requirement of a cause of action. If the cladding is defective and is a potential nuisance to a nearby property, there could be a liability.鈥�
If such a case was brought, it would be those with primary responsibility over the property 鈥� usually owners or occupiers 鈥� that would be liable, Bessey added.
Oxford-based Bessey said the volume of claims of this nature would depend on the how many owners or occupiers of buildings with combustible cladding panels resist expensive remedial works.
He said in the case of neighbours with combustible polyethylene cladding, owners may claim their properties have depreciated in value, or that the increased risk of damage infringes on their enjoyment of their property.
He said a case earlier this month involving Network Rail and two bungalow owners in Maesteg, south Wales, involving the invasive plant Japanese knotweed could pave the way for liability claims.
Network Rail was found guilty of private nuisance after having facilitated the spread of Japanese knotweed into Stephen Williams鈥� and Robin Waistell鈥檚 properties.
The network operator appealed an earlier decision by Cardiff county court which found that it had failed to prevent the weed鈥檚 spread, which 鈥渋nterfered with the quiet enjoyment鈥� of Williams鈥� and Waistell鈥檚 properties 鈥� even though no damage had been done. But the Appeal Court in London upheld the original decision.
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