Delcor Painting & Flooring Ltd. v. 20/20 Properties Inc. et al.

• Jurisdiction: Alberta
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
• Judge: Manderscheid, J.
• Citation: (2009), 486 A.R. 114 (QB),2009 ABQB 670
• Date: 02 November 2009

Delcor Painting & Flooring v. 20/20 Prop. (2009), 486 A.R. 114 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2009] A.R. TBEd. NO.122

Delcor Painting & Flooring Ltd. (plaintiff/defendant by counterclaim) v. 20/20 Properties Inc. and 1053247 Alberta Ltd. (defendants/plaintiffs by counterclaim)

(0503 16803; 2009 ABQB 670)

Indexed As: Delcor Painting & Flooring Ltd. v. 20/20 Properties Inc. et al.

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Edmonton

Manderscheid, J.

November 17, 2009.

Summary:

The plaintiff sued the defendants for damages for the wrongful repudiation of a contract. The contract was for renovation work to be carried out by the plaintiff on 178 condominium units owned by the defendants. The defendants counterclaimed but did not appear at or participate in the trial.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the action and awarded the plaintiff special damages of $219,006.48 for loss of profits plus interest. The counterclaim was dismissed.

Contracts - Topic 3664

Performance or breach - Repudiation - What constitutes repudiation - The plaintiff sued the defendants for damages for the wrongful repudiation of a contract - The contract was for renovation work to be carried out by the plaintiff on the defendants' 178 condominium units - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the action - The defendants repudiated the contract by wrongfully retaining another party to complete 49 units in the project to the exclusion of the plaintiff - The plaintiff did not waive its right to insist on the defendants' performance of the contract even though the defendants had previously acted in a similar manner when they hired another party to start renovating five units - There was no waiver as the plaintiff did not have full knowledge of its right and did not unequivocally and consciously intend to abandon its rights under the contract - The court awarded the plaintiff special damages of $219,006.48 ($4,469.52 x 49 units).

Contracts - Topic 3670

Performance or breach - Repudiation - Bars - Waiver - [See Contracts - Topic 3664 ].

Damage Awards - Topic 1360

Contracts - Building contracts - Loss of profits - [See Contracts - Topic 3664 ].

Cases Noticed:

Gillingham v. Calgary (City), [2005] A.R. Uned. 64; 2005 ABQB 72, refd to. [para. 2].

Guarantee Co. of North America v. Gordon Capital Corp., [1999] 3 S.C.R. 423; 247 N.R. 97; 126 O.A.C. 1, refd to. [para. 23].

WCI Waste Conversion Inc. v. ADI International Inc. (2008), 283 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 254; 873 A.P.R. 254; 2008 PESCTD 40, refd to. [para. 23].

Saskatchewan River Bungalows Ltd. and Fikowski v. Maritime Life Assurance Co., [1994] 2 S.C.R. 490; 168 N.R. 381; 155 A.R. 321; 73 W.A.C. 321, refd to. [para. 31].

Bonilla v. Ciurariu, [2008] B.C.T.C. Uned. 566; 2008 BCSC 925, refd to. [para. 34].

Dyck (William) & Sons (1978) Ltd. v. Landry (1985), 38 Man.R.(2d) 31 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 37].

Hadley v. Baxendale (1854), 9 Exch. 341, refd to. [para. 38].

Sandbar Construction Ltd. v. Pacific Parkland Properties Inc., [1994] B.C.T.C. Uned. B18; 17 C.L.R.(2d) 40 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 39].

Naylor Group Inc. v. Ellis-Don Construction Ltd., [2001] 2 S.C.R. 943; 277 N.R. 1; 153 O.A.C. 341; 2001 SCC 58, refd to. [para. 41].

Karas v. Rowlett, [1944] S.C.R. 1, refd to. [para. 46].

Hall (John) and Son Ltd. v. Showell (Edwin) and Sons Ltd. (1918), 119 L.T. 651 (H.L.), refd to. [para. 47].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Chitty on Contracts (29th Ed. 2004), para. 24-018 [para. 24].

Counsel:

Brian Sussman, Q.C. (Biamonte Cairo & Shortreed LLP), for the plaintiff;

The defendants did not appear.

This action and counterclaim were heard on November 2, 2009, by Manderscheid, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Edmonton, who delivered the following reasons for judgment on November 17, 2009.