Construction Law and Liability

This assignment delves into various legal facets of the construction industry. It examines contract law, specifically contract termination and claims in construction projects. Further, it explores design liability within the context of the construction industry, referencing relevant cases and scholarly works. The assignment also touches upon negligence in manufacturing and its implications for consumers, drawing from examples in South West Nigeria. Overall, this assignment provides a comprehensive overview of legal issues encountered in construction, contract disputes, and product liability.

ASPECT OF
CONTRACT AND
NEGLIGENCE
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................5
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................5
1.1....................................................................................................................................................5
1.2....................................................................................................................................................5
1.3....................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2 ................................................................................................................................................7
2.1....................................................................................................................................................7
2.2 ...................................................................................................................................................8
2.3 ...................................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3 ..............................................................................................................................................10
3.1..................................................................................................................................................10
3.2..................................................................................................................................................10
3.3..................................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................11
4.1..................................................................................................................................................11
4.2..................................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Aspect of contract and negligence is defined as a process of making agreements between
two parties (Winfield, 2006). It is assertive that all individuals who get involved in doing contract
with each other should follow a systematic and legal procedure. A business organization faces many
legal issues while executing their operations (Lai, 2015). Contract is a legal agreement signed
between two or more parties for accepting terms and conditions of the business. Present report
describes about various elements of contracts that needs to be considered while making agreements.
In addition to this nature of liability in negligence is also mentioned and vicarious liabilities of a
company are also described. Furthermore elements of tort of negligence and defences have been
applied in different business conditions.
TASK 1
1.1
Peter Abraham is looking for starting a self-employed building contractor work and for
achieving this objective, it is required that he should have proper knowledge about formation of
contract (Lupton, 2013). It is critical that various aspects of contract should be known to him so that
he can execute operations of the business in a successful manner. A contract is formed by a
systematic process and legal guidelines are followed while making written agreement with another
parties. An agreement is signed between two or more parties and they accept certain conditions and
terms for making contract with each other. The essential elements of contract include OFFER which
is defined as proposal given by one party to another (Marks, Marks and Jackson, 2013). It is critical
that offer must be clear and complete and all terms and condition should be properly mentioned in
the contract. The offer must be lawful and valid and should be acceptable for all individuals who get
involved in signing a contract with each other. ACCEPTANCE is another significant element of
contract which is defined as a positive response given by individual or a party towards the offer
made to them (Liau, 2015).
Capacity is one more important element and it is defined as an ability of an individual or a
party to enter into a contract. There are some legal restrictions which are mandatory to follow for all
the individuals involved in contract (Gruneberg, 2013). A minor who is less than 18 years of age or
a person who is of unsound mind are declared ineligible for making an agreement. Furthermore, any
person who is facing criminal charges and declared as a criminal is also not eligible for signing an
agreement. Moreover, any person who is under influence of drugs and other goods like alcohol and
other additions also lack the ability to enter into a valid contract. Consideration is one more
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significant element which Peter Abraham needs to consider while making agreements. Some
benefits are exchanged between parties who get involved in making a contract and the benefits and
advantages exchanged between parties are known as consideration (Bennett, 2014).
1.2
Peter Abraham wants to open a self-employed building contractor business and it is required
that he should be aware of various procedures that are needed to be followed while making
agreement with each other (Berger and Lester, 2015). Various impacts are observed and considered
while forming a contract. A contract can be made in a written format or by a verbal method.
Nowadays various organizations are adopting online agreement methods under which cost and time
effective methods are used for making a contract with each other. In a written contract, all the terms
and conditions are mentioned in a document and parties involved in the agreement accept and sign
them.
Oral contracts are done between individuals and parties in a verbal manner. Various
conditions of the business are discussed in an oral manner and it is considered valid for doing
business operations (Vashist and Talwar, 2014). Distance selling contract is made by making the use
of telephone, faxes and internet and it can be used for making agreements for selling goods and
services. While initiating a business, it is required that appropriate employment contract should be
signed between the employer and staff members of company and it is essential that Peter Abraham
should sign employment contract with their workers (Martin and Linden, 2015). Under the terms of
payment, working conditions and hours are decided with the staff members. Under distance selling,
contract required information and details which are provided to the consumers and clients deserve
right to cancel the order. The seller needs to deliver goods within an appropriate time schedule and
it is mandatory that all the requirements of client should be fulfilled in a proper manner. Marketing
agreements are signed in between business to business and major objective for making such
contract is to decide the terms and conditions for selling commodities of enterprise (O'malley,
2012).
1.3
Various terms are used in a contract which are vital to be known for Peter Abraham and it is
required that he should have proper understanding of the same. Different types of terms included in
a contract are as follows-
Condition: It is defined as the major objective for making a contract and it is vital that it
should be clearly defined (Connolly and Hoar, 2014). If any party breaks the conditions of contract
then another one can made a legal claim against another. The individual or party who gets injured
4

due to breach of agreement deserve right to make claims to another for paying damages. Serious
and harmful consequences may be faced by party or individual who breaks the condition of contract
(Dorfman and Cather, 2012).
Warranty: It is also a significant term and it can be explained as a promise made under the
agreement (Bender and Do, 2014). Importance of warranty is less than conditions but if any
individual or party fails to make their promises then party becomes liable to pay for the damages
that occurred due to failure of fulfilling terms of warranty.
Innominate terms: These are defined as the terms which are not discussed properly and
information and details mentioned under it are difficult to be understood. These terms cannot be
defined as conditions or as a warranty and their meaning remains unclear (Turner and Turner,
2014). Their significance is very less in the agreement and innominate terms are those contractual
terms which are hard to understand.
Exemption clauses: It is defined as an agreement that defines and explains liability of a
party and an individual who gets involved in signing a contract. Sometimes, these clauses are used
in an unlawful and unfair manner to avoid breach of contract (Thomas and Wright, 2016). Due to
exemption clauses, rights of parties are influenced and sometimes, get restricted.
TASK 2
2.1
Contract is signed between two parties and various terms and conditions of business are
decided between parties and individuals (Bailey, 2014.). In the first case scenario, Carol decided to
purchase a brown leather couch which was costing £600. She came to know about the couch from
online classified and contact information was mentioned in the advertisements. Carol contacted the
person by sending E-mails and mentioned that she wants to purchase the couch. It is defined as an
OFFER in which carol mentioned intention of buying the couch and E-mailed to the seller about it
(Thampapillai, Tan and Bozzi, 2012). Offer was made with an intention to develop a legal
relationship with the owner of couch who gave online advertisement. In this case, all the elements
of contract are present which make it a valid contract. Acceptance is defined as a positive response
given by a party towards offer and here, owner of the couch has placed online advertisement which
shows that he was ready to sell the couch. If Carol will pay £600 and owner refuses to sell the
couch then it can be termed as breach of contract and Carol has right to take legal action against the
owner. Here, in the case, a valid consideration is also mentioned under which cause of promise is
described and in legal terms, without consideration a contract is assumed to be void. But, in the
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present case, online advertisement was placed in which owner of couch accepted to sell the same. It
can be defined as a valid contract as all essential elements including offer, acceptance, consideration
and capacities of both the parties to enter into an agreement are present (Yu, 2014).
In the second case, Devi was seeking cyber-security job position with Smith & Fogarty, Inc.,
a large IT firm. He is an independent individual and wants no interference of his father in his
career related matter (Liau, 2015). The corporation offered job to Devi with appointment letter
which was accepted by him. Preston who is the father of Devi was unaware of his recruitment and
he was concerned with the hiring of his son. He mailed a letter to administration of company and
offered £150,000 if the enterprise would employ his son. The letter sent by Devi was received by
organization and company wished to enforce it against Preston. It is an invalid contract as it is
unlawful to give bribery for recruitments. Father of Devi took an illegal step which makes the
contract void and thus, firm is having right to claim against the father of Devi.
2.2
CASE 3 - In the first case scenario a couple booked a table in a popular Restaurant of
London and while entering they were asked to handover their rain coats. Their wallets were inside
the coats and it contains £ 500. The couple were given a receipt under which it was stated that all
valuables should be removed from the pockets of the rain coat and management of Restaurant will
not be responsible for any theft or stolen things (Oni-Ojo and Iyiola, 2014). When the men went to
make payments it was realised by him that his wallet was left in the overcoat and he moved to
collect it from the overcoat. He checked his wallet and it was found by him that some money from
his wallet is missing. The administration of the restaurant refused to recover the money. The owner
cited that it was clearly written on the back of the receipts that restaurant is not liable for any theft
and stolen things (Liau, 2015). By making use of exclusion clause any party cannot stay away from
his liability and it becomes responsibility of the restaurant to pay back the money which was stolen
from the wallet kept under the overcoat. Under exclusion clause some informations are mentioned
in the written format in which it is mentioned that the party will not be responsible for certain
happenings. Management of the venture has also handover a slip to the couple under which it was
mentioned that restaurant will not be responsible for any theft and stolen things. It is exclusion
clause mentioned by owners of the restaurant and by making this clause they cant move away from
the responsibility and liability for repaying the money.
CASE 4- According to the case Aaron rented a warehouse from Zehphra and the place was
not repaired from a long time period. Aaron took initiative and make improvements in the
warehouse (Gruneberg, 2013). It was oral promise made by Zephra that the rent for the warehouse
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will not be increased for next 5 years and Zephra died after 1 year. The value of the property was
increased due to the repairs made by Aaron and Yeti inherited the warehouse. Yeti informed Aaron
about increment in rent but he refused to pay the increased amount of rent. He claimed that Zehphra
had promised not to increase the rent and so he is not accountable for paying the new additional rent
asked by Yeti. Action was taken by Yeti against Aaron and tenancy was terminated by him. Aaron
submitted a bill claiming compensation for expenses which he had made for making repairs in the
warehouse (Sweet and Schneier, 2012). A clear refuse was done by Yeti and it was stated by him
that he is not accountable for paying any compensation asked by Aaron. Implied terms are defined
as certain practices under which default rules for contracts are set. The major objective of implied
terms is to supplement a legal agreement for making the bargaining effective (Carter and Courtney,
2016). Implied terms also supports in making fair and efficient deal between two parties and it is
essential that both the parties involved in signing the contract should accept terms and conditions of
the agreements. In the present case Zephra has not ordered to make improvements in the warehouse
to Aaron. No prior permission was taken from the owner and no legal contract was signed between
both the parties. Yeti is not accountable for paying compensations to Aaron and legally Aaron has
no right to claim any legal action against Yeti.
2.3
CASE5- According to the case the policy holder applied for the motor insurance and it was
clearly asked in the proposal form about the prior involvement of policy holder in any motor
accident case. The policy holder needs to mention about any claim which he has made for any fault
or non fault including theft during the last 5 years (McInnes, Kerr and VanDuzer, 2013). The policy
holder mentioned that he was not involved in any activity and he has not made any claim in the last
5 years regarding theft and other faults. One incident happened and car of the policy holder was
stolen and it came to notice of the insurer that earlier a theft claim was made by the insurer and
under his previous motor policy. It shows that proper and appropriate information and details were
not provided by the policy holder (Winfield, 2006). The insurer had right to void the policy as
policy holder has not given appropriate information about the previous theft claims made by him in
the last 5 years . The policy holder has argued that he did not need to disclose about previous theft
claims made by him (Lai, 2015). The insurer has right to void the policy and he can also take legal
action against the policyholder for not declaring clear announcement about his previous claims.
CASE 6 – As per the case it is mentioned that policy holder had clearly denied that the car
has not been modified from the maker's specification and no optional fit accessories like skirts,
wheels and alloys are added in the car. It was also mentioned by the policy holder that during the
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last five years the individual who will drive the car has not been involved in any accident or losses.
During the investigation for a new claim it came to know that car had been fitted with oversized
wheels, chrome wheel arches and spoilers (Liau, 2015). It was also discovered that policyholder's
husband was had made two significant claims in last 5 years. The insurer took proper action against
the policy holder and refused to meet the claim and also cancelled the policy from the starting date.
Policyholder argued that he had bought the car with all the nece4ssary modifications already done
in the car. She also explained that she was unaware of earlier claims made by her husband. The
insurer deserve the right to void the policy from the start date as appropriate information were not
declared by the policyholder women (Lupton, 2013).
TASK 3
3.1
There are various similarity and difference in liability in tort with contractual liability. The
difference between tort liability and contractual liability is vary vast and many points are included
under it (Gruneberg, 2013). A tort is defined as a civic mistaken made by the person and the
individual involved in making fault can be sued in the civil court similarly when any contractual
wrong is made by any person than legal action can be taken against him (Bennett, 2014).
Contractual liability is voluntarily undertaken where as tort liability is imposed and enforced by
law. In the liability which is set by contractual method a individual has freedom to choose option for
enter into an agreement and to be bound by legal frameworks (Berger and Lester, 2015). Where as
in tort liability it is required and mandatory for the person to follow the bounding given by
legislations.
In the contractual liability the individuals who entered in the agreement are those who
accept the terms and conditions of the contract (Vashist and Talwar, 2014). While in the tort liability
all the individuals are responsible for following a particular term. For example under Tarasoff v.
Regents of the University of California case a patient described his psychiatrist that he is thinking
for killing a girl. Later on the girl was killed by him. It shows that duty of care and negligence in the
duty can lead towards serious hazardous (Martin and Linden, 2015). All the parties involved in
making contractual agreements have right to choose for following the liability whereas in tort
liability it is imposed by legal frameworks. Under health and safety industry it is tort liability of all
the professionals to render proper care to patients.
3.2
Liability for negligence can arise due to many reasons and some conditions are needed to be
met for a claim under which it is required to prove the negligence (O'malley, 2012). It is essential
8

that negligence should be proved for making a legal claim against the criminal or wrongdoing
person. According to case and decision given in the Donogue v Stevenson (1932) case it is
mentioned that Management of the organization is responsible for providing proper health care and
safety to the employees and its customers (Connolly and Hoar, 2014).
As per the case the person was ill after drinking bottle of ginger wine and she sued the
owner of the manufacturing plant where the wine was made (Dorfman and Cather, 2012).
Negligence of duty caused defects in making of the beer due to which the client became ill.
Negligence is also defined as civic wrong caused due to lack of attention and care of the individual.
It is required that criminal negligence must be proved properly with authentic and reliable
information and details (Bender and Do, 2014). Management of wine company is accountable for
harm caused to the customers and legally they are liable to pay compensation to the customer.
3.3
Vicarious liability is known as situation under which an individual is responsible for action
of another person (Turner and Turner, 2014). These liability can arise under the doctrine of common
law and it is essential that supervisor of the organization should render proper instructions and
directions to the subordinates. Whenever any person is injured or harmed while performing his
work than administration of the company is responsible for paying compensation to the injured
person. It is duty of the employer to provide insurance and health ans safety equipments for
employees (Thomas and Wright, 2016). It is vital that management should be liable for the damages
caused to the injured employee.
According to the case of London General Omnibus Company it was decided by the court
enterprise is not responsible for negligence of the conductor. In the case the conductor choose to
drive the bus instead of collecting the fare from the passengers (Bailey, 2014). It was not duty of
the conductor to drive the bus and company is not responsible for wrong doing done by the person.
The conductor has no right to ask for compensation and to claim damages against the company.
Vicarious liability imposes accountability of the employers on mistakes committed by the staff
members of their firms.
TASK 4
4.1
CASE7- Mr Brown was ill and for taking proper medical assistance he went to Goodmayes
Hospital. He was suffering from chest pain and breathing problems and he was inspected by a nurse
who called the doctor after inspecting him. The doctor without doing diagnosis of the patient
prescribed some medicines that included counter pain killers . It was a negligence of the duty of the
9

doctor and due to that Mr Brown died a day after the medicines given to him. He died due to
Pneumonia caused from toxic mould in the house.
a- The hospital can be held responsible for the negligence done by the medical service
providers of the care home. As per the Vicarious liability it is the responsibility of the employer of
the corporation to pay compensation for the wrong doing of their staff members (Thampapillai, Tan
and Bozzi, 2012). Here in the case without doing proper diagnosis of the patient the doctor
prescribed medicines to him and which led to serious damages to the health of the patient. Wife of
Mr. Brown can take legal action against the administration of the hospital for this negligence caused
by their employees.
b- If the doctors and nurse would have been have given proper care to the patient then
hospital is not responsible for the death of Mr. Brown. Medical health service providers needs to do
proper diagnosis of the patients and then after examining proper care should be given to the
patients. In this case hospital can not be held responsible for negligence and no legal action can be
taken against the management.
4.2
There are some significant elements of vicarious liability and it includes claim for loss,
responsibility of the management to provide benefits to the staff members (Liau, 2015).
Management is also accountable for paying compensation towards the wrongdoing of the
employees.
CASE 8 - According to the case a driver working for a chauffeur company was sent to pick
a customer from airport and the flight was late and for passing the time the driver moved for taking
alcohol (Consumer protection, 2016). When the client was picked up by him he moved and in the
midway their car was crashed into a lamppost and injuries were suffered by the client. Proper
investigation were carried out and it was observed and concluded that driver was negligence
towards their duty. As per vicarious liability it is responsibility of the employer to pay for the faults
of their employee (Public acts, 2016). The chauffeur company is liable for paying compensation for
the injury sustained by the client. Driver needs to be careful towards their duty and it is civic wrong
to drive after taking alcohols. The negligence of the driver led towards serious accident due to
which customers suffered injuries.
CASE9 - As per the case Mr Jones was working as a delivery driver for a supermarket firm.
While performing his work he slipped and the pallet fall over him. He was injured due to this
incident and many colleagues also injured. The colleague who got injured sued the administration
of the supermarket for damages suffered by him. The supermarket refused the claim stating that at
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the time of the accident responsibility for safety and health were delegated to another company. Mr
Jones were injured while performing their duty and as per vicarious liability it becomes
responsibility of the management of the supermarket to pay for the compensations.
CONCLUSION
Summing up the present case study it can be concluded that aspects of contracts and
negligence are essential to be followed by business. It is assertive that owner of the corporation is
aware of various practices and procedures that needs to be followed while signing an agreement. It
is vital that contract should be made in an appropriate manner. Whenever any party voids any term
of contract than it is known as breach of contract. It becomes vicarious liability of the employer of
the organization to pay for the faults made by their staff members. There are some similarity and
difference in the contractual and tort liability and business needs to consider both for ensuring
growth and success of the corporation.
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