Judge lets Aberdeen hotel pursue builder and architect over cladding defects allegedly hidden during construction

Leonardo Hotel Management leases the Leonardo Inn at Union Square, where practical completion was certified in February 2009. It sued in February 2021 after post-Grenfell checks turned up suspected cladding defects. Galliford Try, the design-and-build contractor, and BDP argued that Scotland's five-year prescription period had long since run out, Construction News reported.

In an Oct. 20 ruling, Lord Richardson of the Court of Session agreed that the loss arose when Leonardo signed its lease in December 2009 and rejected the idea that the clock started only on discovery. He kept a narrower argument alive, Scottish Legal News reported: time does not count while a claimant holds back because the defendant's conduct misled it. Leonardo says Galliford Try covered faulty work with other materials as the building went up, and that BDP failed to find and report the problems. The judge said those claims need evidence. No court has found that any defect exists.

BDP's own claim against Kingspan also goes ahead. BDP says it chose Kooltherm K15 insulation because of misleading statements by the manufacturer, and the judge found it arguable that those statements kept misleading BDP after the insulation was installed. In a separate English case, BDP paid Laing O'Rourke £1,125,000 in July to settle a £1.83 million claim over recladding Block C at The Rock in Bury, The Architects' Journal reported, and it now seeks that amount from Kingspan. Kingspan rejects the claims and says the composite panels, which it did not supply, were the likely cause.

The Aberdeen case now goes back before the court so a date can be set for the proof.