Dear Colin,

I'm sure there are a number of pre-1982 common law authorities relevant to
the imposition of a duty of skill and care on a provider of services - I
can't recall them all, but one at least I do recall as touching on the
question is the 1969 House of Lords Appeal Young & Marten Ltd v McManus
Childs Ltd [1969] 1 AC 454. In his speech, at p.465 of the Report, Lord Reid
stated:

"This is a contract for the supply of work and materials and this case
raises a general question as to the nature and extent of the warranties
which the law implies in such a contract. As regards the contractor's
liability for the work done there is no dispute in this case: admittedly it
must be done with all proper skill and care."

What was in dispute in the case was whether or not a contractor had
warranted a specific quality of *goods* being used in relation to the
contract, so that the question of the level of skill to be shown in the
workmanship was only tangential to the matter at hand (hence Lord Reid's
passing remark about this point). There are doubtless other cases where the
question of the standard of workmanship was the central issue, but I can't
recall any off the top of my head.

Best wishes,

Martin


--
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.