Cases - Cellulose Acetate Silk Company Ltd v Widnes Foundry (1925) Ltd

Record details

Name

Cellulose Acetate Silk Company Ltd v Widnes Foundry (1925) Ltd

Date

[1933]

Citation

AC 20; HL

Keywords

Construction contract – measure of damages – delay – penalty sum per week agreed – liquidated damages – inadequacy of damages – whether limited to liquidated damages rather than actual loss suffered

Summary

In this case, a contract for the construction of an acetone recovery plant provided that if the work was not completed within the specified time, the respondents were to pay a penalty of £20 per week. The works were completed weeks late, but the claimant's losses were far higher than the £600 liquidated damages. The House of Lords held that the claimant's recovery was limited to £600.