Please can we have more information about the deemed responsibility of architects in this distressing and dreadful matter (“Architects count cost of asbestos”, Business May 24).
I believe the first that many knew of the danger from asbestos arose from an ITV programme in 1976 which was also seen by many working on building sites, and would have led to the cancellation of asbestos use immediately and the development of alternatives from this information alone.
When was the profession and the industry notified of the asbestos threat and by whom? And what action did authority take with the manufacturers and specifying leaders and regulation people? Is any architect specifier liable including a solo practitioner, even though they may never have directly employed anyone on a building site, only via main contractors?
And what if a nominated subcontractor may have used asbestos without the architect’s knowledge for parts of the work, then who is liable? And if those who actually employed people to supply and work with asbestos on an architect-specified building are now bankrupt or dead, do the architects, living or dead, still carry liability?
Can these and other queries be answered by claims that have already been settled by insurers or the courts? And if the architect specifying the asbestos product is considered negligent, why may this not be covered by the indemnity insurance? There must be very many architects who were working in the 60s, 70s and 80s who would wish to know where they stand.
David Sutcliffe
Retired architect
Welwyn Garden City, Herts
Postscript
Editor’s note: We intend to return to this subject in due course.
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