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Fac Fai Fak Fal Fam Far Fas Fat Fau Fav

Fault

Defined in the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945, as ‘the negligence, breach of statutory duty or other act or omission which gives rise to liability in tort, or would apart from this Act, give rise to the defence of contributory negligence. Under the Employers’ Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969 fault means ‘negligence, breach of statutory duty, or other act or omission which gives rise to liability in tort in England and Wales or which is wrongful and gives rise to liability in damages in Scotland’. In professional liability insurance it is a ‘breach of a civil duty.

Fault liability system

Legal system where an injured party can only recover compensation when able to attach fault to a third party. With the main exception of government-provided industrial injury benefits, the UK operates a fault liability system. The injured party has to prove a third party’s breach of duty in order to recover damages aided in some instances by legislation creating a strict liability, e.g. the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Fault Tree Analysis

Procedure for discovering all possible causes of a particular accident by identifying all factors that can contribute to it. These factors are diagrammed in sequence, which forms a “tree.” The branches of the tree are continued until independent or uncontrollable events are reached. Probabilities are determined for these independent events in order to compute both the probability of the accident and the most likely chain of events leading to that accident.

Faulty (or defective) design

In the context of the exclusion in the contractors’ all risks insurance, this means: (a) a design which fails to meet the standards expected of design engineers; and (b) a design that proves inadequate but without blame or negligence attaching to the design engineer (Queensland Government Railways v. Manufacturers’ Mutual Insurance Co. Ltd (1969)). The design simply has to be faulty for the exclusion to apply.