Approved inspector did not owe duty under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972

In The Lessees and Management Company of Herons Court v Heronslea Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 1423 the Court of Appeal held that an approved inspector did not owe to the claimant lessees a duty under s1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 because it had not taken on work “for or in connection with the provision of a dwelling”. Its contribution did not amount to a positive contribution to the creation of the dwelling but rather took the negative form of seeing that no work was done that contravened the building regulations. This was held to be insufficient to trigger the operation of s1 of the 1972 Act.