Telecoms firm must pay damages for delay in relocating phone mast

A telecommunications infrastructure company has been ordered to pay damages to a property developer after it failed to relocate a mobile phone mast in the scheduled time. 

Stephanie Johnson Senior Associate Solicitor reports on this recent case.

Barkby Real Estate Developments Ltd had a commercial site it planned to develop and sell on to the local authority. 

Part of the development included removing a mobile phone mast from the site. 

Barkby hired Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd to relocate the mast so the sale could go ahead. 

However, Cornerstone found problems with the ground at the relocation site. It meant the planned foundation for the new mast was inadequate and it took five months to resolve the problem.  

Barkby took legal action seeking damages for the delay. 

It claimed the sale was ready to be completed by 30 June 2020, but the mast relocation delayed it until the end of August 2020. 

Barkby submitted it had incurred additional costs in project managementand on its loan facility. 

Cornerstone argued that the development had other outstanding issues and was not ready to be sold by 30 June 2020, so the delays were not solely down to the mast relocation. 

It also said no timeframe for completion of the relocation had been agreed, so it was not contractually liable for any delay. 

The court ruled in favour of Barkby. It noted that the development’s outstanding issues by 30 June 2020 were minor and would not have prevented the sale to the local authority. 

The delay of the sale was a direct consequence of the delay of the mast relocation. 

There was no timeframe in place for the mast relocation, so it was implied that Cornerstone would carry out the service within a reasonable time. 

However, it failed to realise that a geotechnical survey should have been carried out on the new site to ensure a foundation would be adequate for the mast. 

Barkby based its losses on the monthly fees and interest charges for July and August 2020 incurred under the loan facility. 

However, it would have taken about three weeks for the transaction to complete. 

On that basis, Cornerstone were ordered to pay Barkby its extra loan costs for August and interest incurred after 21 July 2020. Such financing costs were not too remote to be recoverable. 

If you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of Dispute Resolution, please contact Stephanie on 01228 516666 or click here to send her an email.