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Posted By Polygon
A company leased two adjacent building off plan on a business park. During building works they were joined together by a structural 3 level link bridge.
All staff access/egress was via building 1, and therefore only this building had pedestrian access to the main road built, although there were two access roads built.
The company then went into Provisional Liquidation (meaning lease reverted to liquidators).
Buildings were then separated, and we occupy Building 2, which has no proper pedestrian access except walking up side of access road, or trespassing into grounds of building 1.
No issue with fact that second pedestrian access is now required (or agreement to go onto building 1's land). The question is who should pay for it?
1. the site landlord
2. the head lessor (the liquidator)
3. Us.
My view is No.2. would appreciate any views from previous experiences
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By George Wedgwood
The answer is that the owner has a strict liability to ensure that his premises are built and maintained to ensure the safety of those who may use it. The problem arises when a lease is in force and 'care and maintenance' responsibilities are put in it to account for an effective transfer of landlord responsibilities to the lessee. However, in my opinion, that should only apply to disclosed risks and most health and safety risks tend not to feature on leases! That leaves a 'negotiable' position for both parties - i.e. who pays for an asbestos survey, pedestrian walkways, road markings etc. that were not put in at the design or build stage? basically the law is unclear at present and it's 'let the buyer beware' (caveat emptor) in terms of taking a lease unless you demand to discuss actual and potential risks to those you may employ in the building, before you sign.
In your case, I would ask the landlord for a meeting to discuss responsibilities and I think I can sense a solution in that both of you will agree a set of actions from the assessment, the design, the costs allocation and the ultimate maintenence requirements. Your responsibility then will be the effective implementation of the changes and communication of them to your staff, along with risk assessment and emergency plan updates to take account of the changed risks. A discussion with the local fire Safety Officer can also help as this may impact on the Fire risk assessment where emergency egress can be clearly improved by creating a new access. Hope this helps, George
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By Ron Hunter
You could drop a hint to your local Planning & Building Control Department and wait to see who they pursue for proper completion of the building project in accordance with the lodged plans?
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By R Joe
There's so much H&S legislation now that it's easy to lose sight of the good old HSW - section 4 may be worth looking at. Regards RJ
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