Architects England and Borg Costanzi and the firm England & England have been ordered by a Court to pay Hubbalit Developments Ltd €93,600 in damages for a poorly constructed building while Gatt Bros (Malta) Ltd were ordered to pay damages of €40,114. 

The firms also have to pay interest on these sums from February 1992, the date the court case was filed.

Brian and Maurice Mizzi on behalf of Hubbalit Developments Ltd, had filed a writ against architects Richard England and Albert Borg Constanzi,  England & England and Gatt Bros (Malta) Limited.

The court heard that the architects and the contractor had been asked to design and construct a block of flats known as "Festaval Apartments" in the Red Tower Tourist Village at Mellieha Bay.  The block was made up of a number of flats, a Club House, Caretakers Quarters, a pool and common areas.

According to Hubbalit, it was obvious that the block had been poorly constructed and defects in its construction were immediately apparent. They requested the court to condemn defendants to make good the damages they had suffered.

The architects, the firm and the contractor all pleaded that they were not responsible towards Hubbalit.   England & England submitted that it was not a legal entity and could not, therefore, be sued.  All defendants pleaded that the action for damages was time barred and that the works had been carried out in a professional manner.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Silvio Meli pointed out that the court-appointed architects who had inspected the construction had concluded that parts of the construction were defective and that there was a risk of a small part of the building collapsing, although remedial action could be taken to avert this danger.  They added that the defects were the result of inadequate structural design of the building's foundations which were not adequate in an area where the underlying ground was rich in clay. 

The supervision of the construction had not been constant or adequate and the quality of the materials used had not been ensured.

The court-appointed architects found all defendants to be liable for damages.

When referring to the firm's plea that it was not a legal entity Mr Justice Meli said that defendants had not produced evidence in support of their claim.  He added that correspondence sent by the architects had been printed on the letter heads of England & England.  This meant that the firm had a legal personality and was a legal entity that could be sued.

The court also dismissed the plea that the action was time barred. An architect and a contractor were responsible for the building for a period of 15 years from construction.  The defects in the building had appeared in the early stages of construction.