{"id":5370,"date":"2018-03-07T09:26:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T09:26:55","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-06-17T14:46:09","modified_gmt":"2019-06-17T14:46:09","slug":"barclays-v-fairclough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lawteacher.net\/cases\/barclays-v-fairclough.php","title":{"rendered":"Barclays v Fairclough Building Ltd"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barclays Bank plc v Fairclough Building Ltd (No.1) [1995] Q.B. 214<\/strong><\/p>\n

Contract law \u2013 Breach of contract \u2013 Contributory negligence<\/em><\/p>\n

Facts<\/h3>\n

B employed F to clean a roof which was made of corrugated sheets. F did not take any safety precautions when cleaning. The premises were contaminated with asbestos and needed extensive work to repair the damage. B brought an action in damages for the cost of the repair work on the basis of F breaching contractual terms. F argued that B had contributed to the negligence as B had not supervised F during the cleaning. B counter-argued that their claim was brought under contract law and therefore could not trigger a negligence claim under tort law. The trial judge held that F was at fault but that there was an implied duty to take reasonable care and therefore the defence of contributory negligence could be successful. The trial judge found that B was 40% at fault and that damages would be owed as per the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, section 1 and section 4. B appealed this decision.<\/p>\n

Issue<\/h3>\n

The issue for the court was whether the contractual agreement between the parties could extend into tort law. If so, F would be able to raise the defence of contributory negligence which would limit the liability for contaminating the building during the process of cleaning the roofs.<\/p>\n

Decision\/Outcome<\/h3>\n

The appeal of the bank was allowed and therefore F\u2019s defence of contributory negligence was rejected. It was held that in circumstances where the defendant is in breach of a strict contractual clause, damages could not be reduced on the basis of contributory negligence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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