Law of Contract: Enforceability of Agreement

Pass mark                                      50

Word count*                                  2,000

Assessment weighting                 40%

*for further information see the Word count and overwriting section.

Submission details   For this assignment, you are required to submit:   A letter as a Word (or similar) or PDF file.   Please refer to the ‘Assessment preparation’ area of the module for further guidance.

Submission of assignments

All assignments must be submitted online in the module area of the VLE. The assignment submission link opens 21 days before the due date. Please refer to the information provided in the ‘Assessment preparation’ week for general submission guidance.

Learning outcomes

Code	Description
LO1	Critically evaluate the legal principles of law of contract.
LO2
	Critically appraise a range of factual and legal material to identify a logical solution to a
problem with a reasoned, professional view.
LO3	Critically analyse complex information and legal terminology.
LO4
	Critically appraise complex information from a range of appropriate sources, to
develop reasoned legal alternatives.

Scenario

Having received all necessary statutory approvals, in January, Mr and Mrs Davies engaged AC FitOut Limited, a firm of building contractors, to construct a two-storey side extension and to undertake a series of internal alterations at their property.

During a conversation, Mr and Mrs Davies agreed a price of £180,000 for the works which they described to Mr Hughes, the Managing Director of AC Fit-Out and asked him if he would like a copy of the latest proposed architectural drawings and specifications for the scheme. Following their discussion, Mr Hughes sent an email which read as follows:

‘Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Davies, it was nice to meet you in January. There is no need to send the plans again, I took a quick look last month, I understand what you want and we have built enough side extensions to take it forward from here. We will have the scheme completed by May.

Yours sincerely

Mr. Hughes (for and on behalf of AC Fit-Out)’

It is now August and only 40% of the work has been completed. Mr. and Mrs. Davies have paid AC Fit-Out for 50% of the work completed at the property.

In a conversation, Mr. Hughes has suggested to Mr. and Mrs. Davies that he has a range of other work commitments to attend to as it is a very busy period for AC Fit-Out but that they will return in two weeks to finish the remaining work. 

Two weeks later, AC Fit-Out have not returned to complete the remaining works and Mr. and Mrs. Davies are in a difficult position as the roof alternations remain incomplete and the site has been left without protection from bad weather. As a result, rainwater has damaged internal fittings and fixtures and some materials left by AC Fit-Out which were due to be installed at the property. These items will need to be replaced at a cost of some £15,000. 

Mr. and Mrs. Davies are becoming increasingly concerned that the contractor will not return to complete the remaining work and have no more money left to pay for the defective items. Mr. and Mrs. Davies have spoken their friend, Paul about the matter. Paul is a  separate building contractor and owner of a firm known as Ridgeway Contractors Limited. Paul  suggests that Mr and Mrs Davies shouldn’t pay AC Fit-Out anything more and that Ridgeway Contractors will complete the remaining work instead. 

Task

Critically evaluate the scenario above and use your knowledge of the law of contract to write a letter that advises Mr and Mrs Davies as to the enforceability of their agreement with AC Fit-Out.

Reference list and bibliography

You should include a reference list with a minimum of five separate relevant and appropriate sources that you have written about and cited within your work.

A bibliography of uncited sources is not required.

Further information to support you with this assignment is available within the study materials for this module on the UCEM VLE. If you have any questions about this assignment, please contact your Module Team using the Assignment forum in the relevant Assessment preparation week on the VLE.