4. Giving (or failing to give) information or advice causing either physical or purely economic harm.
Example: B engages A, a builder, to construct a warehouse for him. A asks C, an engineer, if standard 15 cm steel beams will be sufficient to carry the roof across a distance of seven metres. C says, "Yes, that will be fine - those beams can span seven metres safely." But C is wrong. The beams are only suitable for a span of up to six metres. When A installs the beams the structure collapses, injuring A and destroying his equipment.
Comment: In the present case, A has suffered physical harm both to his person and to his property. When conduct in the form of making a statement or giving advice causes physical harm the normal rules of establishing liability in tort law apply. The same is true when a failure to supply information or advice when it should have been provided causes physical harm.
But what if giving (or failing to give) information or advice causes purely economic harm (rather then physical harm)? The difficulty in such cases is that there are almost no natural limits on the extent to which statements or advice can be communicated to other persons and cause foreseeable harm. To keep the potential liability within reasonable limits, the courts have identified special factors that must exist in such cases for liability to arise. In particular, it will be relevant whether the statement or advice was given in response to a request, and whether or not it was reasonable in the circumstances for the person receiving the advice to rely on it.
Where no request is made for the advice or information relied on by the plaintiff, it must be proved that the defendant intended to induce the plaintiff (as a person within an identifiable class of people) to act on the advice or information.