Cases - Carr v J.A. Berriman Pty Ltd

Record details

Name

Carr v J.A. Berriman Pty Ltd

Date

(1953)

Citation

89 CLR 327

Keywords

Contract administration

Summary

A building contract provided that ‘the architect may in his absolute discretion and from time to time issue … written instructions or written directions … in regard to the … omission … of any work’. The employer caused the architect to omit from the works the supply of steel to be used in the project because the employer was able to obtain the steel more cheaply elsewhere.

The High Court of Australia held that the building contract did not give the employer (via the architect) the power to omit work from the scope in order to give that work to another person.