ABSTRACT

Apart from the provisions of the 1999 Act, the third party’s rights arising under some other rule of law will remain unaffected.99 Thus, if an existing common law or equitable exception to the doctrine of privity of contract applies in favour of T, he may rely on that instead of invoking the provisions of the 1999 Act. This will be particularly important in cases in which T is unable to prove that he has relied on the term in the contract between A and B or in any other case in which the restrictive provisions of s 1 and s 2 might work against T. Thus, if T can establish the existence of a trust of the promise made in his favour or if he has an action in the tort of negligence or if some other statutory exception applies in his favour, T will still be able to avail himself of that alternative route. Although s 7(1) only refers to T’s right under s 1, it must follow that the provisions of ss 2 and 3 are also inapplicable, since both of these provisions expressly state that they apply where T has relied on s 1.