Introduction to Contract Law
Amalia, a well-known and successful wedding planner, has sought your advice regarding the following issues:
a) Amalia wants to expand her business premises to include an onsite wedding venue. To do this, she requires extra seating capacity. She entered a contract with a building company called ‘Build It’ to build an extension onto her existing premises. Amalia explained to Build It that the work needed to be completed by the end of May in time for the busy summer wedding season. Build It did not finish the extension until the end of August and Amalia now wishes to sue Build It for breach of contract. Amalia not only missed the summer wedding season but lost an extremely lucrative wedding booking worth £75,000 because her venue lacked the seating capacity to accommodate all the members of the wedding party and their guests
b) Amalia entered a contract to purchase a new sewing machine from Best Machinery Ltd at a cost of £15,000. A term of the contract states that, ‘it is a condition that the sewing machine be delivered .’
Unfortunately, the sewing machine was not delivered to Amalia until 20 November. Amalia is refusing to pay for the sewing machine and has returned it to Best Machinery. Best Machinery Ltd is threatening to sue Amalia for breach of contract stating that she only returned the sewing machine because she had found a more up to date and cheaper machine elsewhere.
c) Amalia entered a contract to purchase a new sewing machine at a cost of £7,500 from Dream Threads. She tells the shop assistant that she is looking for a machine that has ‘learner assistance’, which will mean that the sewing machine has an automatic programme which can stich in straight lines by itself. The shop assistant recommends the ‘Dream Team’ machine to Amalia, stating: ‘This machine is called The Dream Team for a reason; you could go and do your shopping once you have put it on learner assist mode and it will sew in a straight line by itself’. As Amalia is looking at other sewing machines at Dream Threads, she notices a sign next to the cash register which states, ‘Dream Threads accepts no liability for breach of any express or implied terms howsoever caused’. Amalia purchases the Dream Machine, pleased she didn’t have to pay double the price for the machine from Best
Machinery. Amalia is commissioned to stich a wedding dress and unfortunately finds the Dream Team does not have learner assistance and as a result the dress becomes caught in the sewing machine and rips. Furious and distraught at having ruined a bride’s dress, Amalia returns the sewing machine back to Dream Threads, but the shop assistant points to the ‘no liability’ notice by the cash register that Amalia had read while at Dream Threads.
d) Amalia entered a contract with Bridget, under which Bridget would build a swimming pool in Amalia’s garden.
The contract specified that the pool should be five metres deep at the deepest end, as Amalia is over 2 metres tall. The pool is built with a maximum depth of three metres at the deepest end and Amalia is demanding that Bridget pay £40,000 for the cost of rebuilding the pool, so that it is the appropriate depth.
Include Misrepresentation, Discharge of Contract, Exemption clauses, Resolving legal disputes.
