What was the the stirct rule for discharge by performance?
The performanc emust be complete and exact.
If a party hadnt fulfilled their exact obligations the other party didn’t need to either.
What was the case for the strict rule?
Cutter v Powell
What happened in Cutter v Powell?
C tried to claim for proportion of husbands wages and he died near the end of a voyage when working on a ship.
HELD: She was entitled to nothing as he agreed to work the entire voyage but died instead lol.
What were the exceptions to the rule?
-Tender of performance
-Severable contracts
-Substantial performance
-Acceptance of partial performance
-Delayed performance
What is tender of performance?
If one party prevents the other from carrying out the contract,the innocent party can claim on a “Quantum meruit basis”.
(Planche v Colburn)
What is “Quantum meruit basis”?
As much as is deserved.
What happened in Planche v Colburn?
An author was hired to write a book,the author began writing and wanted to finish the book but the publisher scrapped the series.
HELD:He was able to recover a fee for the work completed
What is severable contracts?
If contracts have seperate parts it need to clearly have seperate parts, non completion of one part doesn’t breach entire contract.
(Ritchie v Atkinson)
What happened Ritchie v Atkinson?
Agreed that cargo carried would be paid for by ton, only part of cargo carried.
HELD:Ship owner was entitled to recieve pay for cargo he carried but had to pay damages for breach of contract since it wasn’t the whole thing.
What is substantial performance?
When a party has done substantially what is required by contract,must be payment of amount for what has been done.
Doesn’t apply to an entire contract as everything must be completed before you’re paid (Cutter v Powell)
Occurs in large contracts where small elements are not performed (Dankin and co v Lee)
What happened in Dankin and Co v Lee?
Builders agreed to repair the D’s premises for £1500 they completed the contract but had 3 relatively poorly performed aspects which were £80 to be put right.
HELD: Contract was substantially and not precisely performed. Since the job was bad the builders had to pay with deduction of defective work.
What happened in Hoenig v Isaacs?
Decorator was hired to decorate and furnish a room and some defective furniture was supplied.
HELD:Decorator was entitled to be paid for what he had done on a quantum meruit basis.
What happened in Bolton v Mahadeva?
Central heating was installed and it was agreed that the builder would get £560, the system was defective and costed £170 to fix.
HELD: Builder recieved nish as contract wasn’t substantially performed.
What happened in Young v Thames Properties Ltd?
Contract was made for resurfacing a carpark but it wasn’t resurfaced to the exact specifications.
HELD: Defects made little difference to quality of contract so contractor was entitled to the contract price minus savings to the contractor.
What is “acceptance of part payment”?
There needs ti be consent,if agreed upon,then contract must be paid on a quantum meruit basis
