Bestobell Paints Limited v Bigg [1975] F.S.R. 421

Facts: The defendants in this action are partners carrying on business under the style South London Builders. The principal business of this enterprise is the refurbishing of houses purchased by a property dealing company, in which both the partners are interested, and of which they are directors. One of the properties upon which they worked in the summer of 1973 was a dwelling-house known as No. 143 Lavender Sweep, Battersea, and they engaged the services of a self-employed painter, Mr Carroll, to decorate the outside by painting the brickwork from pavement level to the eaves. The partners selected and supplied the paint, which they purchased from a store then known as Fads in Clapham Junction. The defendants say that Mr Carroll did a competent and workmanlike job on the house and both he and the defendants say that only ‘Vandyke Brown’ paint was used and it looked very nice. But about six months later it started to turn green in places and at the present day it certainly presents a multicoloured appearance not unlike military camouflage. So they wrote to plaintiffs complaining and seeking recompense. The plaintiffs, as one would expect, were concerned at the suggestion that their paint, which is well known in the decorating market, was less than satisfactory and they investigated. The conclusion reached by the plaintiffs and their experts was that the defendants and their contractor had used not only ‘Vandyke Brown’, but another shade of Carsons paint, a very dark green called ‘Juniper’. Not only, they concluded, had these paints been mixed but the work had been poorly executed. So they disclaimed any liability. The defendants placed a notice on the outside wall of 143 Lavender Sweep clearly legible to anybody passing by. It reads: ‘This house in painted with CARSONS paint.’ The word ‘Carsons’ is in capital letters and is underlined. The house is, near the South Circular Road and may be said, therefore, to command a wide section of the reading public. On 24 June the plaintiffs started this action.