Cases - Oxford Architects v Cheltenham Ladies College

Record details

Name

Oxford Architects v Cheltenham Ladies College

Date

[2006]

Citation

EWHC 3156 (TCC)

Keywords

Contract administration

Summary

The claimant college engaged the defendant architects in relation to a new block. The appointment stated that no action should be commenced after 6 years from the date of practical completion. Practical completion was certified on 25 November 1998, and on 24 November 2004 the college served an arbitration notice in relation to a number of defects. The arbitrator held that none of the heads of claim were statute-barred and the architects appealed.

The court found that where the issues that gave rise to the heads of claim had occurred before practical completion and been known about at the time, time for limitation purposes started to run on the date when the breaches occurred. It followed that if the breaches happened before practical completion, they were statute-barred.