Charles Russell Speechlys advises Mulalley & Co. in successful £1.8m Building Safety claim
min readCharles Russell Speechlys is pleased to announce that its Construction, Engineering and Projects team has advised major family-owned construction and refurbishment company Mulalley on a c.£1.8m claim relating to defective cladding under the Building Safety Act (BSA 2022).
On 22 June 2026, the Honourable Mr Justice Pepperall handed down judgment in Mulalley & Co. Ltd v Sto Ltd & Sto SE & Co. KGaA [2026] EWHC 1552 (TCC), awarding Mulalley & Co. Ltd (Mulalley) an 87.5% contribution from a specialist cladding manufacturer and supplier whose defective system had to be stripped and replaced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. Sto Germany must now pay Mulalley pay £1.77 million plus interest.
The decision is notable for the Court making a building liability order (BLO) by default judgment and the level of contribution awarded – materially above the 67–80% range typically seen in claims against architects for design breaches – and for the court’s reasoning as to why a manufacturer’s supply of an inherently defective product and misleading marketing warranted a higher apportionment.
For more background on the details of the case, read our Expert Insight on the judgment here.
The Charles Russell Speechlys team comprised of Steven Carey, Partner, and Rebecca Morjaria, Senior Associate, alongside Ashley Williams, Associate. The Firm instructed James Frampton of Keating Chambers, who acted as Counsel.
Rebecca Morjaria, Senior Associate in the Construction, Engineering & Projects team at international law firm Charles Russell Speechlys, comments:
We are delighted to have secured this result for Mulalley. They stepped up to remediate Parkside Court for the benefit of residents and the building owner, and it is only right that the manufacturer of the defective cladding system bears the majority of those costs. This is one of the first substantive contribution claims under the Building Safety Act to result in a BLO, and the first to do so by way of default judgment against an overseas parent company.
"The decision sends a clear message to product manufacturers and their parent companies: the BSA has real reach, and structuring around a subsidiary will not insulate a group from liability where a defective product has been placed on the market.
