TROPICAL LINK CONDOMINIUMS LTD vs PHILOMENA MENSAH & ANOTHER
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- P. BRIGHT MENSAH JUSTICE OF THE HIGH COURT
Areas of Law
- Contract Law
- Evidence Law
2016
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Plaintiff sued for recovery of costs in converting a 4-bedroom house to a 5-bedroom guest house, including interest and costs, while Defendants counterclaimed for breach of contract, alleging Plaintiff used substandard materials and failed to agree on the conversion. The court consolidated key issues and ultimately found no agreement to alter the contract, ruled that Plaintiff used substandard materials, and ordered Plaintiff to demolish the building, refund the contract sum, and awarded damages to Defendants.
At the instance of the Plaintiff, a writ of summons was sealed in this registry on 26/09/2012 and endorsed with the following reliefs: 1. recovery of the sum of CAN$19, 390. 00 being the amount of money spent by the Plaintiff in converting her house into a 5 bedroom guest house; 2. interest on the above sum of money from October 2009 to the date of final payment; 3. cost inclusive of Solicitor’s fees.
The defendants responded by entering appearance and filing a common defence to the claims of the Plaintiff.
On record, the defendants obtained leave of the court to amend their defence and added a counterclaim that runs as follows: -a. a declaration that the Plaintiff is in breach of contract to build an inhabitable four (4) bedroom house at a cost which must not exceed Sixty Five Thousand Canadian Dollars (CAN$65, 000. ) it (sic) its cedi equivalent.
b. a further declaration that the Plaintiff failed to obtain a building permit before constructing the said house and also used substandard materials for the construction of the house and thus making the said property uninhabitable.
c. an order directed at the Plaintiff to demolish the said house at his own expense and the court ordering him to refund the amount of CAN$64, 500 being the amount the defendants paid to the Plaintiff for the construction of the house.
d. an order directed at Plaintiff to pay to the defendants all monies spent on renovations already done on the said property.
e. an order directed at the Plaintiff to pay expenses incurred in obtaining building permit for the house by the defendants themselves.
f. damages for loss of use.
g. general damages.
h. any other order or orders as this honourable court shall deem fit.
At the close of the pleadings the court adopted the following issues for trial: 1. Whether or not the defendants demanded a change in the contract for construction of the 4-bedroom house into a 5-bedroom for use as a guest house.
2. Whether or not the defendants agreed to pay the Plaintiff the additional cost incurred in converting the house from a 4-bedroom house into a 5 bedroom house.
3. Whether or not the Plaintiff is entitled to its reliefs.
With the leave of the court the defendants did file on 27/05/2015, Additional Issues for the consideration of the court.
These are listed here below: 1. Whether or not the defendants consented to the alteration of the original plan from 4 bedrooms to 5 bedrooms. 2. Whether or not the parties agreed that the cost of constr