BUILDERS' CLAIM

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 125, 31 May 1927, Page 8

BUILDERS' CLAIM

DISPUTE OVER CONTRACT

PRICE

Reserved judgment was given in th« Magistrate's Court to-day by Mr. E. Page, S.M., in the ease in which H. D. Field, builder and contractor, of Karori, claimed to recover '£125 9a from Mrs. Henrietta Roberts, being the balance alleged to be due from the defendant on a contract for the erection, of a dwelling. The parties disagreed as to the amount of the contract price, the plaintiff contending that he fir»t gave a tender for £1195 for 'all the work, excluding brick work, concreting, and tuck-pointing, but that >wheat he found he would have to undertake the plastering, he. altered the amount of the tender to £1275. The defendant, however, alleged that the original ten* der was for £1275, including plastering, and that the plaintiff subsequently reduced the amount to £1195, the contract being left on that basis. The Magistrate said he had come to the eoaelusion that the" weight of evidence was in favour of tha plaintiff, and he found that the contract price agreed upon was £1275.

On the second substantial item involved in the ease, the. question of payment for the installation of sewerage drains, which had been put in at the defendant's expense, the Magistrate held that the defendant was entitled to a set-off for the cost of installation. Judgment was given for the plaintiff on two small items for extras, amounting to £3 17r 6d. The plaintiff was, therefore, entitled to the balance claimed, less £40 for the cost of the drains, making judgment in hi* favour to the amount of £85 9s, with costs to scale.

At the hearing Mr. J. S. Hanna acted for the plaintiff, and Mr. A. J. Mftttngarb for the defendant.