Laing O’Rourke is pursuing architect BDP for £1.8m after carrying out cladding remediation on a residential building in Bury, Lancashire.
The contractor completed The Rock, a mixed-use shopping centre scheme, in July 2010 after signing a design and build contract two years earlier.
BDP was the architect for the project and had its contract novated from client Thornfield Bury Developments Limited to Laing O’Rourke.
In 2017 concerns were raised about the safety of the cladding on Block C, a residential building over 18m which is part of the development.
An investigation found Kingspan K15 Insulation in the external wall build ups, which meant the cladding system did not comply with building regulations, Laing O’Rourke says in its claim.
Laing O’Rourke agreed to remediate the building and by April 2021 had finished replacing the insulation in 1,722m2 of the building’s external walls for a final cost of £1,842,184.99. It is now seeking £1,834,097.12 in damages from BDP.
The UK’s largest private contractor is yet to formally submit a particulars of claim document outlining its case, however the legal action is outlined in a court document written by BDP for a separate court case.
BDP admits it produced specifications which included K15 Insulation for the 1,722m2 cladding in question, but denies liability to Laing O’Rourke.
It is yet to publish a defence for the case brought by Laing O’Rourke.
However, BDP has launched a down-stream court case against Kingspan Insulation and three related Kingspan companies, alleging that the manufacturer shares any liability which it is found to have by the High Court — as first reported by CN’s sister magazine Architects’ Journal.
In a particulars of claim document, the architect alleges that Kingspan Insulation would be jointly liable to Laing O’Rourke as it ‘acted dishonestly in representing that K15 Insulation, used in the external wall build up of buildings over 18m, complied with relevant Building Regulations’.
BDP cites flyers, guidance and a technical bulletin produced by Kingspan Insulation about its K15 Insulation product, saying they contain false or misleading statements.
Its court claim also quotes over 2,000 words from the phase 2 report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, which it relies on as evidence.
‘BDP acted on the representations that K15 Insulation could be included in an external wall make up which complied with the relevant Building Regulations and that the use of K15 Insulation in the external wall make up of buildings over 18m could help maintain life and property.’
BDP added that Kingspan had ‘made the representations so that K15 Insulation would be specified in the make up for external walls and then purchased’, adding that the manufacturer either knew they ‘were false’ or ‘was reckless as to whether the representations were true’.
‘Subject to the outcome of the Lang O’Rourke claim, BDP has suffered a loss on account of the representations made by Kingspan Insulation in relation to the performance of K15 Insulation,’ it concluded.
BDP said it also brought a claim against Kingspan Holdings, Kingspan Group and Kingspan PLC, as the Building Safety Act 2022 allows Building Liability Orders to be served on a company’s related parties, if it is unable to pay.
BDP, Kingspan and Laing O’Rourke were contacted for comment.
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Will Ing