Metropolitan Water Board v Dick, Kerr & Co Ltd

Metropolitan Water Board v Dick Kerr and Co Ltd
Court House of Lords
Citation(s) [1918] AC 119
Keywords
Frustration

Metropolitan Water Board v Dick Kerr and Co Ltd [1918] AC 119 is an English contract law case, concerning the frustration of an agreement.

Facts

Dick, Kerr & Co agreed to build a reservoir in six years for the Metropolitan Water Board (London). The contract said that Dick, Kerr & Co should apply to the engineer for an extension of time in the event of delay ‘whatsoever and howsoever occasioned’. Dick, Kerr & Co were then required to stop work and sell their plant because of a Government Order.

Judgment

The House of Lords held that the contract was frustrated, because the delay clause was intended to cover temporary difficulties, and not such fundamental changes in the contract’s nature.

See also

Notes

    References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/9/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.