Where excavation on adjoining land causes subsidence that would have occurred without the weight of structures on the affected land, the excavator bears the onus of proving the extent to which damage was increased by the weight of those structures. Failure to discharge that onus results in liability for the full amount of damage. A builder who departs from an engineer's design for a retaining structure and uses a design the engineer has advised is unsuitable is liable in negligence for resulting subsidence damage. Where the precise mechanism of an escape of soil is unknown because the builder's workers covered it up before inspection, res ipsa loquitur applies.
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