Skip to main content

Proof by Sampling after Amey LG v Cumbria County Council

Paper number
D206

Frances Pigott

July 2017

A paper presented to the Society of Construction Law at a meeting in London on 4th July 2017

Does a claimant have to prove liability and quantum on every variation or defect claimed, or will proof of a sample suffice? Defendants face similar questions when defending claims, particularly where costs in the action are budget limited. In this paper, Frances Pigott reviews the TCC decision in Amey LG v Cumbria County Council and considers whether the judge's finding on the use of sampling in that case might be applied more widely in construction cases, its effectiveness as a means of proving claims, whether sampling is cost efficient and the importance of pre-trial case management in the sampling process.

Introduction - Probability and non-probability sampling - Background to the contract - The sampling process - Selecting the sample - (1) Probability sampling - (2) Non-probability sampling.

The author: Frances Pigott is a barrister practising at Atkin Chambers in London.

Text: 12 pages