A ruling by the Technology and Construction Court (TCC) has significantly strengthened the enforcement of the Building Safety Act 2022, with wide-ranging implications for the construction industry and those responsible for historic fire safety defects
In a judgment handed down in early April, the court ordered Ardmore Group, the parent company of Ardmore Construction Limited (ACL), to pay £14.9 million under a Building Liability Order (BLO) relating to serious fire safety defects at the Admiralty Quarter development in Portsmouth. Lawyers have described the ruling as a first-of-its-kind use of an “anticipatory” BLO, extending liability beyond an insolvent contractor to other companies within the same corporate group.
The case arose after Crest Nicholson, the developer and head leaseholder of the residential scheme, pursued ACL over extensive fire safety defects, including “the widespread use of combustible insulation”, “missing and defective cavity barriers”, and “deficiencies in fire stopping and compartmentation”. An adjudicator awarded Crest approximately £14.9m in August 2025 under the Defective Premises Act 1972, however ACL entered administration the day before the decision was issued and did not pay.
Crest subsequently applied to the High Court under sections 130 and 131 of the Building Safety Act for two BLOs: one enforcing the unpaid adjudication award and a second “anticipatory” order making associated Ardmore Group companies jointly and severally liable for any future liability established at trial.
In granting both orders, Mr Justice Constable confirmed that BLOs confer a “deliberately broad and flexible jurisdiction”, exercisable whenever it is “just and equitable” to do so. The court rejected arguments that liability must first be finally determined, ruling that anticipatory BLOs may be made where liability is likely and insolvency would otherwise frustrate enforcement.
The court also provided authoritative guidance on the interaction between BLOs and construction adjudication, holding that an adjudicator’s decision can amount to a “relevant liability” under the Act, despite its temporarily binding nature.
The judge found it was “just and equitable” to extend liability across the Ardmore group, pointing to ACL’s insolvency, the restructuring of the group to isolate historic liabilities, common ownership and control, and evidence of serious building safety risks.
Mark Lennon, construction partner at Gateley Legal, which acted for Crest Nicholson, said: “This landmark decision has far-reaching implications for the construction industry. It significantly strengthens the ability of developers and building owners to recover remediation costs and reinforces the principle that those responsible for building safety risks will ultimately be held to account across group structures.”
He added: “The judgment sends a clear message that the courts will use the full breadth of the Building Safety Act to ensure that liability for serious defects rests where it properly belongs.”
A spokesperson for Crest Nicholson said the company was “delighted with its landmark decision reached by the High Court – reinforcing the principle that those responsible for building safety defects should be held accountable”.
Ardmore confirmed it intends to appeal the ruling, with a spokesperson saying: “We are disappointed by the court’s decision in relation to Admiralty Quarter, a project delivered almost 20 years ago. We do not consider that the legislation was intended to apply in this way, and we intend to appeal the judgment.”
In their summary of the case, Gately Legal explained that the judgment sends a clear signal that “corporate restructuring will not defeat statutory liability” as “lawful but liability driven restructuring will be scrutinised where its effect is to avoid responsibility for historic defects”.
They described the strategic implications of this ruling as profound, saying that for “developers, contractors, funders, and insurers, this decision materially shifts the litigation and adjudication landscape under the BSA, reinforcing the need for early, group-wide exposure analysis and strategic planning.”