Developer Lendlease is seeking a building liability order (BLO) against Balfour Beatty for more than \u00a34m in damages over alleged fire safety defects in a Bristol residential development built more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n
In 2001, Lendlease Residential Ltd, an agent of developer Lendlease Residential (BH) Ltd, appointed Cowlin, a company acquired by Balfour Beatty in 2007 and renamed Balfour Beatty Construction (BBC), to design and build the scheme.<\/p>\n
Named Capricorn Quay, it consisted of two medium high-rises containing 48 flats by the city\u2019s waterside. They were completed in 2002.<\/p>\n
However, following inspections carried out between September 2024 and May 2025, several fire safety issues were allegedly discovered, according to documents lodged with London\u2019s High Court.<\/p>\n
This led to Lendlease lodging a claim to recoup its remediation costs, presently \u00a34,055,148, from BBC.<\/p>\n
However, as BBC is presently dormant and has no assets, Lendlease is seeking a BLO against its parent company Balfour Beatty Plc to pay the damages.<\/p>\n
A BLO is a legal tool introduced by the Building Safety Act that allows the High Court to extend liability for building safety defects to firms related to the company that directly carried out the work.<\/p>\n
In its claim, Lendlease alleges faults in the construction that include compartmentation defects in the external wall insulation system (EWI), and missing fire barriers at the concrete floor slab level and in some locations below the concrete floor slab.<\/p>\n
Other alleged defects found in the EWI system include the use of loose bulk insulation or expanding foam instead of cavity barriers, incorrectly installed fire barriers, and the use of combustible expanded polystyrene material in the fire barrier, the documents say.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result of the defects in compartmentation and fire stopping, fire could spread, in a concealed manner, both vertically and horizontally in each building,\u201d said court papers seen by Construction News<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is exacerbated by weaknesses in the wall system, through gaps in sheathing boards and openings in the form of vents and doors.\u201d<\/p>\n The investigations also found defects in the timber cladding system and the structural wall system, including the use of combustible materials such as timber cladding over Kingspan PIR insulation boards, and combustible insulation, the court documents allege.<\/p>\n Although the presence of combustible materials is not considered a defect in itself due to the blocks\u2019 height and their construction date, inspectors said they exacerbate fire risks, the papers say.<\/p>\n As a signatory of the government\u2019s developer remediation contract, Lendlease is responsible for fixing life-critical fire-safety defects of buildings 11 metres and over in height that it developed in England, completed since June 1992.<\/p>\n Lendlease claims that BBC \u201cfailed properly or at all to appreciate, understand or apply the guidance\u201d and requirements of the Building Regulations 1991 and 2000 in relation to the defects included in the claim.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result of the life-safety risk created by the [\u2026] defects [\u2026], the dwellings in the development are not habitable\u2026 both at the time of completion and as at the date of these pleadings,\u201d said Lendlease in the court papers.<\/p>\n Experts have recommended remediation works take place across the wall systems, including the full removal and replacement of the EWI systems back to the sheathing boards.<\/p>\n Lendlease said it was still in the early stages of investigating other internal defects, which may result in further damages being sought.<\/p>\n