ACM CLADDING RECORDS

Scope and Method

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categoriescladding, fire-safety, methodology

Scope and method

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  • Search covered the National Archives Find Case Law database (successor to BAILII) for Technology and Construction Court (TCC) judgments, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal websites, and recent legal commentary (2022–2026).
  • Cases selected are civil liability decisions concerning cladding/external wall fire safety, involving at least one of: main contractors, subcontractors, cladding/render/insulation manufacturers or suppliers, or design consultants (architects/engineers).
  • This is not a systematic or exhaustive trawl of the full 1,800+ TCC judgment archive — it is a curated list of the reported, higher-profile decisions the searches surfaced. Treat it as a starting point, not a complete record.
  • Case citations and outcomes are as reported in the sources found; where a full neutral citation could not be independently verified against the court record, this is flagged on the individual note.
  • 21/09/2026 update: every note now links directly to the judgment on caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk (or judiciary.uk for the one First-tier Tribunal decision, which National Archives does not host). Checking against the court record in this pass also turned up two errors in the original notes, both now corrected and flagged in place: the Triathlon Homes FTT decision was misdated (was recorded as 3 Dec 2024; it is 19 Jan 2024), and the Martlet Homes v Mulalley note cited a non-existent Court of Appeal judgment (“[2024] EWCA Civ 1071”) as having dismissed an appeal — no such judgment exists, and no evidence was found that the July 2022 trial judgment was appealed on its merits at all.
  • 21/09/2026 update — First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) coverage added. The original searches above (National Archives, CoA/Supreme Court sites, 2022–2026 commentary) systematically miss FTT Property Chamber decisions: they generally are not published on National Archives at all, and most attract no law-firm commentary. FTT Property Chamber decisions are published separately at gov.uk: Residential property tribunal decisions (from December 2018 onwards; earlier leasehold decisions are on Lease Advice or BAILII). This folder now includes: Munkenbeck & Marshall Buildings (FTT) (a pre-BSA s.20ZA consultation-dispensation decision the user surfaced independently, which the original search missed entirely), Secretary of State v Grey GR (the first fully-contested s.123 Remediation Order, given its own note for its precedential significance), and the FTT Property Chamber — Building Safety Act tracker, a full listing of the 55 decisions gov.uk categorises as “Building Safety Act” as at 21/09/2026. That tracker is a raw index, not a curated list — most of the 55 are routine, unopposed or lightly-contested single-building applications. It also does not capture non-BSA FTT decisions (ordinary s.20/s.20C/s.27A leasehold service-charge disputes touching on cladding), which are more numerous still and were not separately searched.
  • Not legal advice. Verify any citation against BAILII / caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk (courts) or gov.uk (FTT Property Chamber) before relying on it, and take specific advice from FSA’s or the client’s lawyers on any live dispute.

Points of note for FSA’s healthcare/NHS work

  • Martlet Homes v Mulalley and Mulalley v Sto together show the courts now apportioning liability down the supply chain to manufacturers/suppliers of cladding and render systems, not just the installing contractor — relevant where FSA specifies or reviews external wall build-ups.
  • URS Corporation v BDW Trading confirms consultants (architects, engineers) can face long-tail liability in tort and under the Defective Premises Act 1972 for design defects discovered years after completion, even where the claimant developer no longer owns the building.
  • Willmott Dixon v Prater and 381 Southwark Park Road v Click St Andrews illustrate Building Liability Orders under s.130 BSA 2022, which can pierce corporate structures to reach associated companies — relevant to due diligence on contractor/consultant corporate groups on large NHS schemes.
  • Essendi v London Property Company extends cladding-remediation liability reasoning into commercial lease covenants (repair and statutory compliance), which may be relevant for any leased or PFI-structured healthcare premises with ACM or other combustible cladding.

Suggested next steps

  • Set up a recurring search of the National Archives Find Case Law TCC list and legal-update trackers (e.g. Fenwick Elliott Dispatch, Practical Law Construction) for new cladding/fire-safety judgments.
  • For any specific project (e.g. an NHS building with legacy cladding), search for whether it or its contractor/consultant/supplier appears in reported proceedings.

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