Aspects of Contract & Negligence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Aspects of Contract & Negligence - Assignment Example 1). For example, a contractor agrees to construct a building on a specific site for the site owner within a particular timeframe and pursuant to detailed specifications in consideration of a specific price to paid by the site owner. In ordinary circumstances this would be a gratuitous exchange of promises. However, since the parties (site owner and contractor) intend to create legal relations, the agreement is a contract and therefore the voluntary undertakings and promises become legal obligations under the law (Koffman and MacDonald, p. 1). For instance, if the contractor fails to construct the building within the specific timeframe, the site owner has a right to sue the contractor for a breach of contract and can seek compensatory damages for the same. Likewise, if the contractor lives up to his or her undertakings and promises and the site owner fails to pay the promised price for the same, the contractor can sue the site owner for breach of contract and may seek compensatory dam ages as well. In a typical case, the parties to a contract will expressly state or write out the terms of the contract. In this regard, each of the parties’ undertakings and promises will be articulated. The parties will then have a legal obligation to abide by those express terms (Ashcroft and Ashcroft, p. 50). The express terms of a contract will often have an impact on other persons who are not parties to the contract, although the right to enforce the express terms of a contract will only be applicable to the parties who have formed the contract and negotiated its terms and conditions (Ashcroft and Ashcroft, p. 51). The impact on other parties not parties to the contract can arise in specifically defined circumstances. For example a contract for a contractor to install doors and windows in a dwelling house for a site owner who leases the house to tenants will impact the tenants. In the installation of windows and doors, the tenants will be subjected to disruptions and int erruptions in their daily lives as the construction takes place. Therefore if for some reason either the contractor or the site owner delays the installation of the doors and windows, the tenants will be disadvantaged. Therefore in an action for breach of contract on the part of the contractor, the site owner may be entitled to claim additional damages for having to compensate the tenants either by a reduction in rent or a temporary relocation as a result of the delay. Therefore, although privity of contract only means that only the parties to the contract are bound by the specific terms and conditions in the contract, the impact of breaching those terms and conditions on third parties may increase the obligations of the parties to the contract (Koffman and MacDonald, p. 476). In the example provided (a contract for installing doors and windows), the contractor will also have to rely on other parties to ensure that he or she lives up to her specific terms and conditions. For example , the contractor will have to order doors and windows and will also have to enter into a contract for the delivery of the windows and doors. Therefore, two other contracts will come into play under the main contract and any breaches of these incidental contracts can impact the contractor’s ability to live up to the terms and conditions of the main contract (Koffman and MacDonald, p. 477). Therefore, if the windows and doors are not delivered on time, the contractor may be in breach of the contract with the site owner and in an action