Part A Contracts are an integral part of business and everyday life, and are fundamental to construction as the industry relies on the formation of contracts for business agreements. “Contracts are based on the idea of a bargain, where each side must put something into the bargain. A contract may be defined as 'an agreement which is binding on the parties’” (Galbraith, 1998, pg78). There are a number of key components which must be present in the formation of such contracts. Firstly, there needs to be an initial offer made by one party for the formation to begin. “An offer exists when one party effectively declares his readiness to be bound by a set of terms without any further negotiation” (Galbraith, 1998, pg79). It is …show more content…
the amount of pay which could be the same as that paid on a prior occasion”. One particular problem in construction is the 'letter of intent ', widely used between employers and contractors as a form of pre-contract agreement. Following on from the tendering negotiations, Adriaanse (2010, pg55) writes “the purpose of a letter of intent is to express an intention to enter into a contract at a future date”. These are the result of failing to negotiate on certain terms in time for the project start date, and are introduced to allow the commencement of work, keeping within the projects ' completion target. As these are often not legally binding contracts they cause disputes in the future if one of the parties does not carry out their duties, as in British Steel Corporation v. Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Co. Ltd (1981). Owen ( 1998, pg50) writes that “all simple contracts must have consideration given by each party to the other as the price of each other 's promises. It may take the form of money, goods, services, promises not to sue etc.” For example party A must receive something from party B, in return for party A providing something to party B. However McKendrick (2007, pg88) states that “consideration must be sufficient but does not need to be adequate”, meaning for example something must be offered to the other party in return to satisfy the rules of consideration, but does not need to be of an equal value as
An offeror will have made an offer where it appears to a reasonable person in the position of the offeree that an offer was intended.
The principle of law is that for a valid contract to be formed there must be an agreement reached by both parties.
A bilateral contract comes into existence at the moment promises are exchanged. True, “promise for a promise”
Intention to create legal relations can be defined as follows. ‘An agreement will only become a legally binding contract if the parties intend this to be so. This will be strongly presumed in the case of business agreements but presumed otherwise if the agreement is of a friendly, social or domestic nature.’ Source (HNC unit 5 Business law course book) In determining whether the parties intend their agreements to be legally binding the court is guided by two presumptions. Parties to a domestic or social agreement do not intend to be legally bond. Parties
Contracts are an important part of everyday life. They are an essential part of business. As a student of a business law class, I will discuss in this paper several aspects of contracts. This paper will give a definition of a contract and the essential elements necessary to form a valid contract. It will briefly discuss breach of contract and the difference between a material breach and a nonmaterial breach of contract. Examples of legal and equitable remedies available for breach of contracts will be highlighted. Also, legal excuses for nonperformance or other grounds for discharge of contracts will be addressed. Finally, three types of common contracts personally and professionally encountered will be mentioned.
When it comes to commercial transaction, it is generally presumed that the contracting parties must have the intention to create a legal binding contract. This simply means that if the parties signed a contract for business related activities, then in case the other party fails to fulfill the contractual provision then the other party will be able to sue the other party.
After the case of Ron Engineering, many transformations took place in the contracting laws of tendering. The contracts were given a brand new structuring and implementation which brought more transparency and reliability. The court established Contract A, which had be present prior to the construction contract—which was known as Contract B—where all the parties had beforehand thought was the exclusive contract concerned in the tendering process. Whenever an owner calls for bids, it proposes to enter automatically into a bidding contract i.e., Contract A. The contract automatically becomes a lawfully enforceable agreement as soon as the bidder submits its bid. In case the bidder’s offer is acknowledged, the owner and the bidder both then are contractually compelled by the tendering contract to come into the production contract i.e., Contract B.
However, consideration is a concept that has no real equivalent in French contract law. According to the Common Law systems, a promise is only biding when there is something in return.
Contracts are a legal agreement between two or more parties that provide details of their rights. Thus, some business contracts can be very complex, therefore, it is important that the parties have someone who is familiar with the law to inspect the documents before signing them. Normally, contracts are composed of an offer, that details terms and conditions that must be met. Moreover, if the terms and conditions are not met per the contract, there can be legal ramifications that follow. Ultimately, contracts are legal agreements that provides details about what is expected from each participant so that there are no misunderstandings in the future (Summers, 1969).
Finally, consideration must be sufficient but need not to be adequate. This rule stipulates that a good consideration must be of some value but there is not necessity for a bargain to be of adequate value. For example, if someone is willing to sell his Ferrari for £1, the contract will not be in vain due to lack of consideration and therefore will be sufficient. In this case, Courts will not measure the adequacy of the consideration (the fact that a Ferrari is offered to be sold at only £1) as it is up to one party to decide whether or not he agrees with the other party promises.
A Contract requires several elements in order to be considered enforceable. However for the purpose of this essay we would explore one of these elements in order to effectively understand the controversial cases of Williams v Roffey Brothers and Nicholls (contractors) Ltd (1990) and Stilk v Myrick (1804). Before going any further one should briefly understand the doctrine of Consideration. Despite the vast amount of content written, the doctrine of consideration is still to this day unclear due to the inconsistency of the courts and its application of necessary rules. Consideration refers to that which the law deems as valuable in that the promisor receives from the promise that which was promised. In other words, it is the exchange of something of value between the parties in a contract. One should be mindful that in English law, every promise may not be legally enforceable; it requires the court to distinguish between are enforceable and non-enforceable obligations. This brings us to the controversial cases of Stilk v Myrick and Williams v the Roffery brothers. Many argue that that the case of Williams was wrongly decided leading to impairments in the rule initially established in Stilk v Myrick. This essay seek to analyse and critique the cases of Stilk v Myrick and Williams v Roffey Brothers and also highlight whether or not the new rule of Practical benefit lead to serious impairments in later cases.
Contracts are used in many different forms and for just as many different situations within our everyday lives. Some contracts are more involved than others and for some; contracts are an essential of their success. As we continue, we will take a look at different types of contracts with the main focus on enforceable contracts. With so many elements that are incorporated into any contract, the six essential elements of enforceable contracts will be the main focus of this writing. Having a clearer understanding of the essentials of life will help prepare us for life’s curves that may come our way.
Introduction: In this assignment I will go over a few legal terms in relation to contract law. I will also talk about a few precedents that help explain the law.
The first element of a valid contract would have to be the offer. You can’t have an contract with a having something to offer to another partner. An offer is when one party
Contractual agreement has always been viewed in terms of offer and acceptance. The universal principle to contract law has always been parties may get into an agreement in whichever way they deem fit and they are subject to certain terms as they choose. As far as legal requirements vital to their formation are binding contracts may be formed. Moreover a binding agreement may be manifested in terms of writing or in verbal form.