Occupiers' liability—contractors, builders and landlords

Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson

Practice notes

Occupiers' liability—contractors, builders and landlords

Produced in partnership with Andrew Wilson

Practice notes

Independent contractors

Sometimes premises will be left in a dangerous state because of faulty construction, Maintenance or repair work that has been (or is still being) carried out by independent contractors. Alternatively, independent contractors will be retained to remedy a dangerous situation but will fail to do so.

The question is then, will the occupier be held liable for resulting injury caused to a visitor? Generally, unless the contract under which the occupier has retained services provides otherwise, an occupier will not be liable, under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 (OLA 1957), for any Negligence on the part of independent contractors working on their premises.

It should be noted that the relevant provision, OLA 1957, s 2(4)(b) applies only to works of construction, maintenance or repair.

It will be for the occupier to establish that an independent contractor has been engaged. The occupier will not be liable if it shows that:

•
it acted reasonably in entrusting the work to an independent contractor
•
it had taken such steps (if any) as it reasonably ought to satisfy itself

Andrew Wilson

Consultant Solicitor

Andrew has more than 25 years’ experience of working in the fields of personal injury and occupational disease litigation, acting for both claimants and defendants. He trained at L Bingham & Co, gaining early experience in a number of important high profile claims involving the MIB. During the 1990s Andrew worked at Hextalls and then Kennedys, predominantly for defendants across a range of motor, employers’ liability and public liability matters many of which involved serious injuries or death. More recently, he has dealt with cases for claimants who have suffered serious injuries or occupational disease. He was a partner in a large specialist practice. He has provided seminars to solicitors and other legal professionals both for an external conference company and in house on the workings of the Civil Procedure Rules in the context of personal injury claims, amongst other subjects.

He has now set up his own legal consultancy, providing advice and support to solicitors, particularly a specialist London practice, in connection with fatal accidents and very serious injury cases such as brain injury, mostly in the High Court. He has continued to develop his education and training activities, providing seminars and contributing articles and commentaries to legal information services.

Since his training, Andrew has retained a particular interest in issues of motor indemnity and the operation of the Road Traffic Act and Article 75.

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Occupiers' liability definition

What does Occupiers' liability mean?

The duty of those who occupy property owed to visitors or trespassers to the property.

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