“The law on limitation provides a number of safeguards to protect plaintiffs unaware that they have suffered damage within the periods prescribed in the Limitation Act 1980 as amended. Identify these safeguards and explain the circumstances in which a claimant who has suffered damage would be able to rely on them. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Defects 2.1 Limitation Act 2.2 Latent Damages Act & Relevant Case Law 2.2.1 Fraud, Concealment or Mistake 2.2.2 Subsequent Owners 2.3 Economic Loss 2.3.1 Exceptions 3. Conclusion Completed as part of Reading University, College of Estate management Year 2 degree level. Subject area Construction Law Grade 45/50 or 90%”

1.1 Introduction

The size and complexity of buildings means that defects are not always visible at the point of purchase. The Limitation Act (1980) is a statute of limitations providing timescales seeking to address this issue. The theory behind such a statute is to protect individuals who have suffered damage to their properties but were unaware of such damage at the time of purchase (HM Gov 2012). This piece aims to explore the safeguards inherent within the Limitation Act and how individuals rely on them.

2. Defects

Defects typically fall into two categories, construction defects and design defects. Within these categories are defects which are clear to see (patent) and defects which are not apparent (latent).

Certain academics such as Sheils (2011) have suggested the labelling of such categories is problematic due an individuals subjective opinion. However, a way of distingu…(short extract)