The Week That Was - 9 May 2025

Bratt v Jones: clarification of test for breach of duty in valuer's negligence

The Court of Appeal recently provided clarification on the test for breach of duty in valuer's negligence in Bratt v Jones [2025] EWCA Civ 562. The claimant had contended that no specific findings as to what a valuer had done wrong were necessary to establish liability once a valuation had been found to fall outside of a reasonable margin of error, and that once a 'wrong' valuation was shown, the 'evidential' burden then fell to the defendant valuer to demonstrate they were not negligent.

The Court of Appeal confirmed that the first question in assessing breach of duty is whether the valuation falls outside a reasonable margin of error.  This is a question of fact to be determined by the Court on the basis of the evidence before it.  If the valuation falls outside a reasonable margin of error, the second question is whether the defendant acted in a way which no reasonably competent professional valuer could have done (the Bolam test).  The Court made it clear that the legal burden of proving negligence for the second question was not reversed and remained with the claimant.

However, the Court also made obiter comments that suggested the Court did not see any compelling reason to impose the precondition that the valuation needed to be outside of a reasonable range, which suggests this aspect may be open to being tested in the Supreme Court in the future.

For further information please click here.

Four jailed in £600,000 bribery case

A manager at Tony Demolition Workers Ltd has been found guilty of paying bribes of over £600,000 to three managers of Keltbray between 2012 and 2018, in order to be awarded specialist labour contracts worth £15m.

The four men were convicted at Southwark Crown Court and have received sentences of between three and a half years and two years.  Andrew Cant of the CPS has confirmed that it will now commence confiscation proceedings in order to reclaim the proceeds of the illegal activity.

For further information, please click here.

Construction remains the worst hit industry for insolvencies

Despite making up c.14% of all registered businesses within the UK in 2024, the construction industry accounted for a disproportionate number of insolvencies. According to the Insolvency Service, 4,046 construction firms became insolvent in the 12 months to February 2025.  This accounts for 19.5% of all insolvencies.

By way of comparison, there were 4,424 insolvencies recorded in the year to February 2024, meaning that there was an 8.5% reduction in insolvencies for the year ending February 2025.

For further information, please click here.

Building Safety Regulator Gateway 2 "chaos"

The Construction Enquirer reports that an anonymous developer stands to lose "millions" after the Building Safety Regulator decided that its scheme would need to go through pre-construction checks despite being almost structurally complete.  The anonymous developer explained to the Construction Enquirer that the Building Safety Regulator "took months" to acknowledge its scheme and only sent an adviser to the site when most of the structure was complete and the Building Warranty provider was already doing final sign-off inspections.  The Building Safety Regulator decided after its adviser's inspection that the scheme still needed to go through pre-construction checks even though it was almost ready for residents to move in.  The anonymous developer referred to other developers in similar positions and remarked that "it's total chaos thanks to a system which just isn't working at the moment."

For further information, please click here.

Aviva submits plans for 34-storey city office tower

Aviva has submitted plans to redevelop 130 Fenchurch Street with a 34-storey offer tower.  The Development Manager is CO-RE, the Architect is Wilkinson Eyre, and the Consultant MEP and Structural Engineer is Arup.  If the plans are approved, then the existing site will be demolished in 2026 with piling work expected to start in 2027.

Read more in the Construction Enquirer here.