Cases - Davis Contractors v Fareham Urban District Council

Record details

Name

Davis Contractors v Fareham Urban District Council

Date

[1956]

Citation

AC 696 HL

Keywords

Contract – construction - incorporation – whether letter contract document – whether reference to letter sufficient to incorporate - frustration – whether lack of labour constitutes frustration

Summary

In this case, the contractors undertook to build 78 houses in eight months for a lump sum price. A letter attached to the contractor's tender stated that the tender was subject to adequate supplies of labour being available as and when required. In fact, labour became very short, so that instead of taking eight months, the project took 22 months.

The letter was not included as a contract document, although it had been referred to by a contract document in relation to a different matter. The House of Lords held that this was not enough to incorporate the terms of the letter into the contract.

The contractor also argued that the lack of labour had frustrated the contract. The House of Lords held that this was not the case, as it was still possible to perform the contract, albeit later and costing more than the contractor had anticipated.