Discharge of a Contract Flashcards
what must the performance be
Performance must be complete and exact
Cutter v Powell
Can only claim your payment if your work was complete
(in this case price was set for the whole performance)
Prevention of full performance
If one person prevents the other from performing their part of the contract, then the innocent party can claim to be paid on a quantum meruit basis (for what it is worth)
Planche v Colburn
Example of prevention of full performance
Ritche v Atkinson (severable contracts)
If a contract has separate parts, then the non-completion of one part does not breach the whole contract
Substantial performance
If a party has done substantially what was required under the contract, then the doctrine of the substantial performance may apply (you have done nearly all the work)
There must be payment of the amount appropriate to what has been done (quantum meruit)
Dakin & CO v Lee (substantial performance)
Performance was complete even though some of the work was defective therefore he should be paid minus the amount to put it right
What amounts to substantial performance?
Theres no percentage or indicator of how much of the work should be done
Bolton v Mahadeva (substantial performance)
court decided there had not been substantial performance
Hoening v Isaacs (substantial performance)
court said there had been substantial performance
Down to the courts to decide
Acceptance of part payment
If one party has agreed that the other party need not complete the entire contract, then the contract must be paid on a quantum meruit basis
Sumpter v Hedges (acceptance of part payment)
The customer had not accepted part performance as they had no choice but to perform the rest of the performance
(builder had done half the work and the customer done the other half so the builder tried claiming that showed the customer had accepted part performance)
The court regards time as a condition if:
The parties have expressly stated in the contract that time is of the essence of the contract
In the circumstances time for completion of the contract is critical
One party has failed to perform on time and the other has insisted on a new date for completion of the contract
Charles Rickards Ltd v Oppenheim
Time could be a condition of the contract
What is the effect of delay to performance
The effect of delay to performance is treated as a breach of condition and many of these points are present. If not, it will be treated as an innominate term
British Electric v Electric Railways
Duty to mitigate loss
Law for duty to mitigate
A claimant is not bound to go to extraordinary lengths to mitigate loss, only what is reasonable in the circumstances
