The defendant surveyors had failed to notice cracks and other defects in a property. The plaintiff relied on their report and purchased, and now sought damages.
Held: The defendants had failed to exercise the reasonable care and skill of a prudent surveyor. The damages were to be measured as the difference in value of the property in the condition as described and the condition in fact as at the time of the repport. An expert valuer would have seen the possibility of the substantial subsidence and advised against buying – which gave the house a nil market valuation. The plaintiff could also recover the reasonable costs of discovering the true loss.
Judges:
Jones J
Citations:
(1973) 229 EG 1737
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – McKinnon and another v E Survey Ltd (formerly known as GA Valuation and Survey Ltd) ChD 14-Jan-2003
The claimants purchased a house relying upon a survey by the defendants. Although the defendants reported long standing movement of the property, the defendants failed to report that to be saleable, a long investigation would be required, reducing . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Damages, Professional Negligence
Updated: 06 August 2022; Ref: scu.182974
