Legal Blog

Contract Termination – Significant Deficiencies

Mastracci v. 1882877 Ontario Inc. 2019 Ont SCJ

While roofing work was ongoing, leaks became apparent. The owner retained an expert whose report savaged the contractor’s work. Rather than allow the contractor to fix the deficiencies, the owner retained another roofing contractor to apply the appropriate fix. The judge held that the deficient work was a fundamental breach of the contract and therefore the owner did not have to give the contractor a reasonable opportunity to correct the deficiencies. The court allowed the owner to set off its cost to complete the work against any amount otherwise owed to the contractor.

Written by Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.