Ingenieur Vol 78 ingenieur 2019 apr (2) | Page 21

Works v Oscar (1983) 1 All ER 65, the chimney was constructed in 1969 but the faulty condition of the chimney could not have been discovered with reasonable diligence and was only in fact discovered in 1977. The court held that the cause of action accrues at the date when the cracks on the chimney occurred and not when the plaintiff could diligently have discovered it. In this case, the plaintiff’s action is time-barred as the date when he discovered the crack was over the limitation period of six years. To address the injustice caused by this, the UK has enacted the Latent Damage Act 1986 which provides that where the cause of action could not be discovered when it arose, the plaintiff can sue within three years of the time when it could be discovered. New Section 6A The amendment of the Limitation Act introduces a new section 6A as follows: “Limitation of actions to claim damages for negligence not involving personal injuries 6A. (1) Notwithstanding subsection 6(1), this section shall apply to any action for damages for negligence not involving personal injuries, where the starting date for calculating the period of limitation period under subsection (2) falls after the date on which the cause of action accrued. (2) An action to which this section applies shall not be brought after the expiration of three years from the starting date if the period of three years expires from the starting date if the period of three years expires later than the period of limitation prescribed in subsection 6(1). (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), no action shall be brought after the expiration of fifteen years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. 4) For the purposes of this section – (a) “starting date” means the earliest date on which the plaintiff or any person in whom the cause of action was vested before him first had both the knowledge required for bringing an action for damages in respect of the relevant damage and a right to bring such action;” Therefore the new section 6A(1) enables a person to take action founded on negligence not involving personal injuries by allowing an extended limitation period of three years from the date of knowledge of the person having the cause of action. This proposed new section 6A considers negligence cases involving latent damage in construction cases, where the damage was not discoverable through general inspection and that the person having the cause of action did not know or could not have been reasonably expected to know of the damage. It must first be noted that the six year limitation period remains as the starting point. Section 6A only applies to actions brought after the expiration of the said six years, and where the claim is for damages for negligence not involving personal injury only. The limitation period for breach of the contract remains at six years from the date of cause of action arises. In addition, such action must be brought within three years from the “starting date” and is subject to a longstop of 15 years. In this respect, the Act is similar to the corresponding legislation in the United Kingdom and Singapore. Application of Sections 6A(1) and 6A(2) The new sections 6A(1) and 6A(2) provide three illustrations to explain the operation of this section. a. C bought a house from D in 2000. In 2010, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2002, two years after C moved into the house. C has three years from 2010 to file an action in court against D for damages. b. C bought a house from D in 2000. In 2006, C discovered a crack which damaged the walls badly. A building report made by a consultant revealed that the cracks had occurred in 2002, two years after C moved 19