CLAIMANT NOT ENTITLED TO BRING CLAIM AFTER EXPIRY OF TIME BAR

In Inframatrix Investments Ltd v Dean Construction Ltd [2012] EWCA Civ 64, [2012] All ER (D) 27 (Feb) the Court of Appeal held that the claimants were not entitled to bring a claim for damages for breach of contract because more than a year had passed from the date on which the defendants last performed services in relation to the project. The contract between the parties contained a term which limited the claimants’ entitlement to bring a claim for damages to this one year period and the court held that effect had to be given to the clear meaning of the term. No argument was advanced to the effect that the clause was subject to regulation under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.

The facts

The defendants were specialist roofing and cladding constructors who agreed to carry out services for the claimants in relation to the construction of a factory. The claimants wished to bring a claim for damages against the defendants in which they alleged that the defendants had breached the terms of the contract between them. The trial judge held that the claimants were not entitled to proceed with their claim because they were prevented from doing so by the terms of a limitation clause in the contract. The claimants appealed to the Court of Appeal who dismissed the appeal.