Nabarro Nathanson - Millennium Bug
Date: 03 Sep 1998
Property lawyers at Nabarro Nathanson are arguing that landlords and tenants need to find a middle road in handling the Millennium Bug and have endorsed attempts by the BPF and the RICS to make the Year 2000 problem a collaborative rather than adversarial issue,
According to property partner Gerard Tomnay: "In acting for both tenants and landlords we are seeing the debate from both sides of the fence. Tenants want guarantees that their buildings are not going to go haywire around them whilst landlords are understandably not going to want to commit themselves to a potentially open-ended liability.
"The industry needs to come together on this issue. It should be possible to agree a common set of conditions and undertakings that both landlords and tenants can live with regarding the Year 2000 problem. This is one of those occasions when all the good words spoken about 'partnership' in the property world are put to the real acid test. A failure to find common ground will not only be a real shame but could also result in years of mistrust and hostility at the beginning of the new millennium."
According to the firm it is likely that Millennium Bug problems will first show themselves in management systems which control the issuing of rent and service charge demands and payments, or which monitor planned maintenance cycles. These systems are likely, by the end of 1998, to encounter periods which include dates in or after 2000. Systems which are not Year 2000 compliant may well fail, or function erratically, if it assumes that the year "00" is earlier than the "99". Failure of such systems would undermine the ability of those systems to process demands or to keep track of arrears.
Problems of Year 2000 compliance are not confined to management systems. Computer chips (known as "embedded systems") control a wide range of plant and equipment, ranging from lifts and door locks to smoke alarms, emergency lighting and fire precaution systems. Clearly, failure of these systems could disable the building and cause significant business interrupfion. Failures due to the Millennium Bug will not be covered by insurers since the problem is neither fortuitous nor is it unforeseeable.
The firm has produced a screensaver which, through a sequence of clock images, serves to remind clients of the need for action as the millennium approaches. This is available on disc, from Rosie Rickard (Tel 0171 518 3630) or via the Nabarro Nathanson web-site www.nabarro.com.
Where do I go now?: » View the latest news items » View the news archive » Subscribe to Weekly Property Newsletter » Submit news
Williams Gunter Hardwick