Legal brief: Do architects certificates operate as contracts?

The question of whether architects certificates operate as contracts in law has been given some clarity in a recent case in which Birketts acted for the successful claimants.

The recent judgment of Mr Justice Akenhead in Jonathan Hunt & Ors vs Optima (Cambridge) Limited (1) , Strutt & Parker LLP (a firm) (2), Mr Stephen Egford (3) and Strutt & Parker LLP(4), in the Technology and Construction Court will have implications for professional indemnity insurers who insure architects issuing Council of Mortgage Lenders Certificates for new build residential properties.

The Claimants were a group of owners of flats at Jubilee Mansions in Peterborough. They had purchased their flats from 2003 onwards and, following the discovery of defects, they commenced a claim in respect of the flats, including the common parts. Strutt & Parker were employed by Optima to issue Architect’s Certificates for each of the flats at the property, which they duly did.

Mr Justice Akenhead found that an architects certificate amounts to a contractual warranty, that it gives rise to a duty of care in negligence and therefore that S.14A of the Limitation Act 1980 applies to Architect’s Certificates. This piece of legislation provides a maximum limitation period of fifteen years.

Furthermore, the judgment means that the architect may be liable in both contract and negligence in providing the certificate to the recipient of the certificate in the event of a breach.

We anticipate that, following this decision, the RIBA will issue fresh guidance for architects signing such certificates.

Ruth Sunaway represented the claimants in this case and is a senior associate in the construction team at Birketts LLP