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Quantum Meruit

Posted on July 19, 2016 | Posted in Civil Litigation, Five Liners

Hugh’s Contracting Ltd. v. Stevens 2015 BCCA

Quantum meruit applies when contracting parties have agreed to provide goods or services, for which payment is to be made, but failed to provide the terms of the remuneration. It is then presumed that the parties intended a reasonable price to apply. (See paragraph 26 of the decision). The owner was contractually obliged to pay the general contractor for work that it had performed, even though the court held that the general contractor repudiated the contract by refusing to continue its work unless its disputed conditions relating to extras were met. The contract had not set out how the extras were to be valued and therefore the judge held that quantum meruit should apply. The contractor attempted to demonstrate the hours of extra work and then claimed 20% for profit and overhead on top of that cost. The judge refused to allow for that overhead, holding that the overhead specified in the contract should not be applied to the quantum meruit claim. The court also refused to allow a supervision fee for the extras or for work completed after the scheduled completion date.

 

Jonathan Speigel

 

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

 

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