Court Fines Plumber Sh30M Over Shoddy Work for Flooding Elite Muthaiga Mansion

A Nairobi court has ordered a plumbing firm to pay Sh29.7 million in damages after its negligent work caused catastrophic flooding at an upscale residential property in Muthaiga, barely 24 hours before it was due to be handed over to its owner.

In a damning judgment delivered on Friday, Justice Janet Mulwa found Allied Plumbers Limited guilty of professional negligence after leaking roof tanks installed by the company flooded a double-storey mansion on March 9, 2015.

The court ruled in favour of Devshibhai & Sons Limited, the construction firm that had been contracted to build the luxury home in Old Muthaiga, one of Nairobi’s most exclusive neighbourhoods.

Devshibhai had subcontracted Allied Plumbers to handle all plumbing and drainage installation work at the site.

The timing of the disaster proved particularly devastating. The flooding occurred just one day before the completed house was scheduled to be handed over to its owner, causing extensive water damage throughout the property.

The incident prompted Occidental Insurance Company, which had provided cover for the project, to compensate Devshibhai for the losses.

The construction firm then pursued the case through subrogation rights, effectively stepping into the shoes of the insurer to recover the payout from the party responsible for the damage.

During the trial, Devshibhai presented comprehensive expert reports that meticulously documented the extent of the damage and established a direct link between the flooding and the plumbing work carried out by Allied Plumbers.

The evidence painted a picture of systematic failures in quality control and professional oversight.

Allied Plumbers mounted a vigorous defence, denying both liability and negligence.

The company initially blamed the incident on a defective ball valve, claiming the manufacturer’s faulty product had caused the tanks to overflow.

A defence witness testified that the flooding resulted from manufacturing defects in the valve system rather than any failure on the plumber’s part.

However, Justice Mulwa systematically dismantled these arguments.

The court noted that despite claiming a manufacturer’s defect, Allied Plumbers failed to produce any inspection report or documentation from the manufacturer confirming such defects existed.

More critically, evidence revealed that the plumbing installation had not been inspected for an entire year before the incident, and crucially, no final testing had been conducted before the scheduled handover.

“It is difficult to find that the defendant satisfactorily performed its contractual obligations as expected of professional plumbing contractors,” Justice Mulwa stated in her ruling.

The plumbing firm also attempted to invoke force majeure, arguing that the incident constituted an unforeseeable event beyond their control.

The court rejected this defence outright, noting that the company’s failure to fulfil its basic contractual obligations could not be excused by appeals to circumstances beyond human control.

“The defence of force majeure cannot be applicable in the circumstances herein. It is clearly a matter of professional negligence by the defendants’ servants and or agents without involvement by the plaintiff or at all,” the judge said.

Justice Mulwa expressed particular concern that a site scheduled for handover the following day had remained uninspected for an entire year.

She ruled that such glaring professional failures could not be attributed to acts of God or other uncontrollable forces.

“Considering that the site remained uninspected for one year, yet it was to be handed over the next day of the incident, acts of God cannot be invoked to justify the obvious professional negligence by the defendant, by its agents or servants,” she observed.

The court also noted that since Allied Plumbers had exclusive control of the site at the time of the incident, only the company or its workers could definitively establish what had occurred, including whether anyone had switched off the water pump that might have prevented the overflow.

In her judgment, Justice Mulwa emphasised the duty of care that Allied Plumbers owed under their subcontract agreement.

She noted that both parties maintained insurance coverage, which entitled Devshibhai’s insurer to seek reimbursement from the party responsible for the loss.

“It is established law that an insurer may recover payments from culpable parties after compensating their client,” Justice Mulwa concluded.

The court found that while Allied Plumbers vigorously denied causing any damage through negligence, the company failed to offer any credible alternative explanation for what had caused the extensive flooding.

The Sh29.7 million award represents one of the largest compensation orders in recent construction litigation, reflecting both the extent of the damage to the luxury property and the court’s stern view of professional negligence in the construction industry.

The case serves as a stark reminder to contractors and subcontractors of their obligations to maintain rigorous quality control standards and conduct proper inspections throughout a project’s lifecycle.

For Allied Plumbers, the price of failing to inspect their work for a year and neglecting to conduct final testing before handover has proven extraordinarily steep.