Cases - RB Burden v Swansea Corp

Record details

Name

RB Burden v Swansea Corp

Date

[1957]

Citation

WLR 167

Keywords

Contract administration

Summary

Under an express clause of the RIBA standard form, the appellant contractors were empowered to terminate the contract in the event that the employer had interfered with or obstructed the issue of a certificate. On the facts, the project quantity surveyor had improperly valued works carried out under the contract and failed to inform either the respondent or the project architect, who went on to issue a certificate in the sum of the improper valuation. The appellants purported to terminate their employment under the contract. It was held that although the valuation was improper, the certificate nevertheless stood, and on the facts the appellant's termination was invalid as no interference with the certification process had taken place.

It seems that the making of a mere mistake will not be sufficient to invalidate a certificate. In such circumstances, the employer can pursue relief against the architect himself (see Campbell v Edwards (1976) and Sutcliffe v Thackrah (1974)). However, a certificate would not be binding if the architect had strayed substantially from his original instructions.