Cases - Dodd v Churton

Record details

Name

Dodd v Churton

Date

(1897)

Citation

1 QB 562

Keywords

Construction claim - time for completion - frustration - liability for default - delay - penalties for delay - additional works - liquidated damages

Summary

The claimant builders contended that completion of building works by the contractual completion date had been frustrated by the ordering of additional works by the architect - a common complaint of nineteenth-century and modern-day contractors alike.

The Court of Appeal held that whilst the building owner was entitled to compel the contractor to carry out extra works pursuant to a variations clause, that builder could not be held liable for default when he had been prevented from performing his obligations by the acts of the building owner. Lord Esher MR elucidated that 'the reason for that rule is that otherwise a most unreasonable burden would be imposed upon the Contractor.'