James Foong J:

The plaintiffs are husband and wife, and were at all material times owners of a piece of property known as Lot 3007, Kemendah Heights, Selangor ('Lot 3007'). In need of professionals to draw up plans to build a house on Lot 3007, the husband, the first plaintiff, walked into the office of the first defendant. The first defendant had described itself as a firm of 'consulting civil and structural engineers'. In attendance at the first defendant's office was the fifth defendant who gave an impression to the first plaintiff that he was the engineer of the firm, when in fact he was only a chief clerk and a draftsman. Plans of a double storey house were then drawn and signed by the fourth defendant. The fourth defendant was a registered engineer with the Board of Engineers of Malaysia at the material time, but no longer so after being struck off the rolls when he admitted to the regulatory body of engineers that he breached the rules by operating two firms at the same time, one of which being the first defendant.

Relevant building plans were submitted to the second defendant, the town council of the area. The plans were approved with the usual specifications and