Professional Negligence: The Irish and UK Case Law

John ME Lyden

April 2002

A paper based on a talk given to a meeting of the Society of Construction
Law and the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Cork on 5th March 2001.

The paper looks at the basic principles of the law of professional negligence,
some examples of how negligence can arise in practice (with particular
reference to the case law of Ireland and the UK) and some aspects pf professional
indemnity insurance.

Duty of care - Standard of care - Fitness for purpose -
Common professional practices - Keep your eyes open: check facts
for yourself - Further investigations are often required -
Obtain proper instructions from your client - Give your advice in
writing - Misrepresentation - Warn clients about risks -
Keep up to date: alter your advice if necessary - When does a design
obligation end? - Delegation of design duties - Knowing when
to get outside help - Duty to warn - Examples in practice
- Commonality of loading - Suitability of cladding -
Professional indemnity insurance.

The author: John M E Lyden FICS, FSCS, MIN, MCIArb, MEWI is a construction
contract consultant, arbitrator, chartered quantity surveyor and mediator
in Cork, Ireland.

Text 27 pages.

PDF file size: 260k