The High Court has confirmed that Building Liability Orders reach through corporate groups. Ardmore's collapse shows what that looks like.
The first fully contested BLO judgment confirms defect liability can extend to parent companies before any finding is made. The defect record has never mattered more.
The Technology and Construction Court's judgment in Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd v Ardmore Construction Ltd [2026] EWHC 789 (TCC) is the first fully contested ruling on Building Liability Orders under the Building Safety Act 2022. Within weeks of the decision, Ardmore Construction Group entered administration, with 275 jobs lost and several London development projects left unfinished. For residential developers operating within group corporate structures, the ruling expands liability exposure in ways that cannot be managed through insolvency planning alone.
What happened
The case arose from fire safety defects at Admiralty Quarter in Portsmouth, a scheme built between 2007 and 2009 by Ardmore Construction Ltd under a design and build contract with Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd. Post-Grenfell investigations identified serious defects in the external wall system and internal fire compartmentation. An adjudicator found in Crest Nicholson's favour and awarded approximately £14.9 million.
When the original contracting entity proved unable to satisfy that award, Crest Nicholson applied for Building Liability Orders against Ardmore's associated companies under section 130 of the BSA 2022. The TCC confirmed three significant points: that anticipatory BLOs may be granted before any final finding of liability has been made; that adjudication awards qualify as "relevant liabilities" for the purposes of a BLO application; and that insolvency or corporate restructuring within a group will not automatically shield associated entities from liability where the court considers it just and equitable to extend responsibility.
Ardmore Construction Group entered administration on 11 June 2026, with 275 employees made redundant and live schemes across London stalled. A Shoreditch development of 350 homes (Britannia Place), including social housing, was expected to complete by the end of 2026; industry observers say that timeline is now unlikely. In a separate case, Bellway has filed a £53.4 million High Court claim against Ardmore Group and AECOM over concrete frame defects discovered during fire safety remediation at a 229-home development on Greenwich Peninsula.
Why it matters for developers
Building Liability Orders were included in the BSA 2022 precisely to prevent corporate groups from escaping responsibility for defects by concentrating liability in a subsidiary and then running that entity into insolvency. The Ardmore judgment confirms the mechanism is functional and reaches across group structures, including before any court has made a final finding on the underlying liability. The protection traditionally offered by separate legal personality in a corporate group no longer operates as a firewall for building safety defects.
For residential developers building through SPVs, joint ventures, or subsidiary entities, the exposure is now material. Group holding companies and associated trading businesses are potentially liable for building safety claims that would previously have been contained within the development entity. The threshold is set by the BSA's definition of "relevant buildings": residential structures of 11 metres or four storeys or more. A large proportion of the multi-storey new-build pipeline sits within that definition.
The same logic applies from the other direction. Housing associations and BTR operators acquiring new-build homes can, in principle, use BLOs to recover from developer or contractor groups where structural or fire safety defects emerge after completion. The defect record built during the construction and handover phase, and maintained through the defect liability period, becomes the evidentiary foundation for any such claim.
What to watch
Legal commentary following the judgment suggests BLO applications will increase, particularly where contractor insolvencies arise on projects within scope of the BSA. The Bellway v Ardmore Group claim, still at an early stage, will add further judicial interpretation of how defect evidence is assessed in this context. For developers and registered providers, the immediate practical question is not structural: it is whether the defect management record created during the DLP is sufficiently documented, dated, and verifiable to demonstrate competent oversight if the liability question is ever tested.
How Guided Home helps
With Building Liability Orders confirmed as a live litigation tool, the quality of a developer's defect management record shifts from a customer service consideration to a legal exposure question. Guided Home's Inspections and Defects module creates a structured, dated record of unit condition from first inspection through DLP close: every defect logged, every contractor instruction issued, and every resolution confirmed against a timestamp that the platform controls, not the contractor. Where a BLO question arises, that audit trail is the difference between being able to demonstrate competent oversight and not.
For developers managing schemes across multiple entities or group structures, the portfolio-level view of that record is as important as the site-level detail. The Executive Dashboard gives leadership real-time visibility of open defects, SLA compliance, and remediation progress across every scheme, without reliance on site reports or manual escalation. The same visibility that reduces aftercare cost during the DLP is the same evidence base that matters if liability is ever extended beyond the original entity.
At handover, the document record is the starting point for any future liability question under the BSA. Document Assurance validates completion documentation against compliance checklists before handover is confirmed, closing the gap between a practical completion certificate issued and a full, verifiable record of the property as built. For housing associations and BTR operators taking on homes from third-party developers, the incoming record must be complete before the liability clock on the new ownership begins.
Sources
- Pump Court Chambers: "Crest Nicholson v Ardmore [2026] EWHC 789 (TCC): A Landmark Decision on Building Liability Orders"
- TLT LLP: "Building Liability Orders: First fully contested judgment on BLOs delivers clarity"
- Construction News: "275 jobs lost as Ardmore's construction arm names administrators" (17 June 2026)
- Construction Enquirer: "Ardmore Construction Group collapses into administration" (11 June 2026)
- Law360 UK: "Bellway Seeks £53M Over Concrete Defects In London Flats" (June 2026)
- Shepwedd: "Crest Nicholson v Ardmore has expanded the reach of Building Liability Orders"
- Trowers & Hamlins: "Crest Nicholson Regeneration Ltd v Ardmore Construction Ltd: When does Limited not mean Limited?" (June 2026)
- Inside Housing: "Ardmore's construction business collapses into administration"