This was not just a case about a failure to spot, and draw attention to, certain defects that one might expect to be picked up on a HomeBuyers’ survey. It was about a failure by the surveyor to convey to the clients (i) the limitations of the protection that the survey afforded them, because there were material risks which he was unable to assess, and (ii) in the light of this, the need for them to take further action in the form of further investigations and, crucially, obtaining a PCC, which was essential. In my judgment it does not matter whether one characterises that breach of duty as a failure to inform them or a failure to advise them or as a mixture of the two. The key point is that Mr Large failed to say what he should have said to the Harts about matters that were fundamental to whether the transaction should go ahead. If he had said those things, they would not have bought the property. (Lady Justice Andrews para 81.)
Full judgment Large v Hart & Anor [2021] EWCA Civ 24 (15 January 2021)