Citation: EWHC 72 (TCC); 135 Con LR 183
Nature of case: By a consent order, Mouchel made a settlement agreement with Kier in negligence proceedings and subsequently sought a contribution from Van Oord by issuing Part 20 proceedings. The court determined that Van Oord’s use of the backfill material was a matter of design, not suitability of materials, and in the circumstances was excluded by contract from the scope of a Van Oord’s work. However Van Oord was in breach of contract and liable to Kier for certain installation works that caused remedial work to be necessary in those areas and this was the relevant breach to found contribution. The relative contributions of Mouchel and Van Oord were assessed as 65% and 35% respectively.
