ABSTRACT
Peter wants a wall built in his back garden. He goes to Duff & Co, a local firm of builders, and is advised by Mr Duff that he should have the wall constructed of Nubrix, a new type of building material. Peter is dubious, but is assured by Mr Duff that all his builders have received training in working with Nubrix. Mr Duff also says that they have built several walls with Nubrix with very satisfactory results. Peter says that he would like to have time to think it over, and rings up Nubrix Ltd. Alison, Nubrix’s sales manager, confirms that Duff & Co are ‘authorised Nubrix builders’. She says that Nubrix Ltd can guarantee that a Nubrix wall will need no maintenance for at least 15 years. The next day Peter enters into a contract with Duff to build the wall with Nubrix. Two years after it is completed, however, the wall collapses. Peter has discovered that Mr Duff’s builders had had no training in using Nubrix, and that at the time he entered into the contract at least one other wall built by Duff with Nubrix had collapsed within a year of its construction.
