S M Goldstein & Co (Pty) Limited v Cathkin Park Hotel (Pty) Ltd and Another

The appellant, a prominent building contractor, constructed the Drakensberg Sun Hotel for the first respondent, with the second respondent as lessee and operator. In 1988 a fire originated in the lobby fireplace and caused extensive damage to the hotel. The fireplace had been built with a Jetmaster firebox, above which a bitumen-impregnated railway sleeper and other combustible materials were installed without insulation, contrary to the manufacturer’s installation instructions and the National Building Regulations. The respondents sued various parties in delict for negligence; claims against others were settled or withdrawn. The trial court held the appellant contractor liable for damages arising from the fire, and the contractor appealed against the finding on liability.

The appeal was dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel.

The case is a leading authority on the delictual liability of building contractors in South African law. It affirms that contractors owe an independent legal duty in delict to owners and third parties to avoid creating manifestly unsafe structures, even where an architect’s design is involved, and clarifies the interaction between contractual obligations and delictual liability.