Cases - The Lord Mayor, Aldermen And Citizens Of The City Of Westminster v J Jarvis and Sons Ltd and another

Record details

Name

The Lord Mayor, Aldermen And Citizens Of The City Of Westminster v J Jarvis and Sons Ltd and another

Date

[1970]

Citation

7 BLR 64; HL

Keywords

Construction contracts - practical completion - delay - entitlement to extension of time - latent defects - whether works completed by sub-contractor at time accepted by main contractor or when remedial works completed to cure inherently defective works

Summary

This case involved the construction of a multi-storey car-park in the City of London. The project was finished late and the contractor (Jarvis) argued that the works had been delayed by a nominated sub-contractor - an event that entitled Jarvis to an extension of time.

The relevant sub-contract works were piling works, which Jarvis had accepted as being complete on 20 June 1966 (the due date for completion to take place under the sub-contract). However, it was subsequent remedial work to the piles, not completed until 29 September of that year, that delayed the main contract works.

One of the issues was therefore whether the works were complete at the time that they were accepted by the contractor (20 June) or whether the inherent defects in the works meant that they were not complete until completion of the remedial works (29 September).

The House of Lords held that:

'the discovery of latent defects in the piles showed that the sub-contractor was in breach, not that it was in delay...notwithstanding the latent defects in the work, there was apparent completion on 20 June 1966, when the site was handed over to the contractor ...

... there is only delay if, by the sub-contract date, the sub-contractor fails to achieve such completion of his work that he cannot hand over to the contractor. Or, putting it negatively, that the sub-contractor is not in delay so long as, by the sub-contract date, he achieves such apparent completion that the contractor is able to take over, notwithstanding that the work so apparently completed may in reality be defective ... '