The houses on the estate were unusual in that they were constructed without lintels above the windows. There was no way of telling, simply by looking at the house, whether a lintel was present or not.
West & Co engaged Mr Eden, a self-employed and experienced joiner, to replace windows in one of these houses.
While Eden was removing a window frame, the wall above the window collapsed and injured him. He sued for compensation.
The Appeal Court decided West & Co was liable and assessed compensation at £16,000 plus £16,000 costs.
It had known that houses on the estate had been constructed without lintels and should have warned Eden of this.
Failure to do so was a breach of its legal duty, the court decided.
Source
Housing Today
Reference
Landlords cannot assume that simply employing independent specialist contractors absolves them of any responsibility for injury. Any special or particular problems with the design or construction of empty houses should be drawn to the attention of the contractors before they start work.
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