A Friend In Need, Is A Friend... In Greed! The Perils Of Providing Free Advice

(1) Peter Burgess (2) Lynn Burgess v Basia Lejonvarn [2018] EWHC 3166 (TCC)

Background

This case concerned an architect who agreed to assist her friends with their landscaping venture on a gratuitous basis whereby she secured a contractor to carry out earthworks and hard landscaping, providing a budget of £130,000. Following a disagreement over the budget, the parties fell out and the architect left the project. The owners claimed that much of the work done during her involvement was defective, alleging negligent design and project management and negligent advice on the architect's part. They claimed the difference between the £360,000 they eventually incurred on the project and the budget of £150,000 plus VAT they said they would have agreed with a landscaper had they been properly advised.

The court had determined, as preliminary issues, that there had been no contract between the parties and that the architect, as a professional providing gratuitous services, was liable for what she had done but not for what she had failed to do. It remained to be decided what services the architect had actually provided and whether she had acted negligently.

Court judgment:

The Court held, on the facts of the case, that the architect was not liable for any defects in the work conducted. The Court conducted thorough analysis of the issues and concluded the following:

Services provided - Drawings the architect had made had not been produced negligently. The architect had inspected the works sufficiently to review and advise regarding the contractors' applications for payment but she had not been inspecting the structural work and groundworks for non-compliance. The architect could not have been expected to inspect those works. She had not failed to properly assess and advise the owners regarding applications for payments made by the contractor. Breaches of duty - The Burgesses' claim for negligent design and project management lacked credibility. They had been unable to identify any drawings by the architect which had caused any defective construction or any advice given negligently. In the absence of a...