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SV0612 Contract Law Assessment

Instructions

There are two parts to the assessment Part 1 and Part 2. The word count in total for both parts is 2500 words excluding footnotes and bibliography with a 10 % leeway – so the maximum amount is 2750 words – don’t exceed this. The whole piece is marked holistically.

Guidance

• Only use acceptable authoritative sources for your work
• Do NOT use anything from lawteacher.net
• Make sure your work is fully referenced.
• Make sure you have a full bibliography, properly set out.
• Do not repeat facts from cases – apply principles
• Make sure your work is structured and has an introduction and conclusion.
• Proof read your work before you hand it in.
• Get it submitted on time – there are serious penalties for lateness.

 Part 1 ( approximately  750 – 825 words)

Explain what is meant by a breach of contract and outline the remedies available to the non-breaching party?

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 Part 2 (approximately 1750 – 1925 words)

Christine and Vic sold their flat and moved in with Christine’s parents whilst their new house, in Wimbledon Road, was purchased. They wanted to enlarge the property so paid an architect to draw up the plans for an extension, which were then given to three builders to provide quotations for the work. One specific requirement was a 3m square panoramic window looking over the back garden.

Their aim was to stay living with Christine’s parents whilst the majority of the building work was completed – the architect had advised that this should be 3-4 months dependent on the weather. They wanted to make sure they were in the new house by Christmas.

Two written quotes were returned; one from C & R Builders for £45,000 and one from DB Builders for £35,000. The builder they had really liked, Tony, said he didn’t have time to draft out a firm quote but thought it would be around £40,000  ‘give or take a bit’ depending on materials and the cost of the carpentry.

As they wanted to save money for the interior, they decided to go with DB Builders and agreed a contract in early May paying the initial £3,500.

The following payment schedule was proposed.

1. On confirmation of the contract 10% of contract price.
2. On satisfactory completion of the ground works 30%.
3. On satisfactory completion of the walls and roof 30%.
4. On satisfactory completion of the carpentry 20%.
5. Retention of 10%.

Christine and Vic made it clear they needed the work to be completed by the end of the second week of December. David from DB builders assured them it would be done; ‘unless there’s an earthquake’. DB were due to start work on May 10^th but there was no sign of anyone until a week later.

Works continued, with the foundations being dug, but there were days when no one was on site. The architect had advised that the ground works should take about a month to complete. David (from DB) contacted Christine one morning in early June and told her he wanted to be paid the agreed £10,500 for the ground works as they were almost completed. Christine was not prepared to agree to this but said that she would pay him £5,000 immediately, with the balance to be paid when the ground works were finished in their entirety. David agreed to this.

Over the following three weeks none of the builders turned up on site, and David did not return calls or messages.  Vic and Christine feared that DB had abandoned their job and gone off to more lucrative work. Vic contacted Tony who said he had some unexpected free time and would see what he could do. He rectified some of the minor issues with the work done by DB and subsequently got the job organized and made excellent progress.

Tony arranged for Iain, a carpenter, to contact them to carry out the carpentry work and Christine and Vic agreed, on Tony’s recommendation, to pay Iain £6,000. However, after 3 weeks Iain said he needed an additional £2500 to get the work completed by Christmas, he was quite insistent that it couldn’t be done otherwise. In desperation, they agreed, as living with Christine’s parents was becoming increasingly awkward. Christine and Vic said they would only pay Iain the extra money on completion of the carpentry work.

The extension was finally finished and Christine and Vic moved in at the end of December.

However the following has occurred:

• Christine and Vic have received a demand from DB Builders for the remaining £5,500 for the ground works.
• Iain, the carpenter, is asking for the additional £2,500 he was promised.
• Christine, having measured the window, has found it is 2.9m by 2.9m not 3m by 3m, though the view is largely unaffected. It will cost £6,000 to take out and replace the window and Tony has said it’s not worth it. Christine wants some compensation but would rather spend any money they get on a holiday rather than the bigger window.
• The roof that Tony fitted developed a leak because a few broken tiles were used. Unfortunately, the leak went undiscovered and subsequently ruined some Victorian curtains that had great sentimental value for Christine because they had belonged to her grandmother. Christine suffered mental trauma and became quite depressed.

Advise Christine and Vic.

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SV0612 Contract Law Assessment