Cases - Sheffield v Conrad

Record details

Name

Sheffield v Conrad

Date

(1987)

Citation

22 ConLR 188

Keywords

Contract - termination - defect discovered post termination - post termination conduct - whether the court could consider the contractor's post termination conduct when considering whether the employer had reasonably terminated the contract

Summary

The claimant was a builder, and the defendant the owner of a small bungalow, which was to be converted into a two-storey house. Work began in May 1982. The defendant believed that progress was slow and by November 1982 instructed the claimant to leave site. After termination, it was discovered that there was a design defect in the cantilevered floor.

The official referee found that the reaction of the builder to the discovery of the defect, post-termination, was unsatisfactory and the explanations he put forward at the time, 'quite untenable'. It was argued on behalf of the defendant that in justifying the termination, it is possible to rely upon the conduct of the claimant post-termination, given that the reaction was such that it would (had it happened pre-termination) of itself have destroyed all confidence of the employer in the future so far as the builder was concerned. This argument was rejected.

It was possible to take into account breaches as at the date of termination that may not have been known about, but this of itself was insufficient. The defect in the cantilever floor was not of sufficient magnitude to be a breach that went to the root of the contract.