How do you fancy a Porsche 911? More particularly, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS4? Cost you a bob or two. Kevin Hughes has an appetite for that fabulous animal. So when he got wind that Porsche was likely to produce the last batch of his dream car, he put his name down and a £10,000 deposit at the Porsche dealer in Bolton. They happily signed up the form of contract much like you do for the next building contract. And yes, the standard form of contract contained all sorts of bumf thought up by clever designers of so-called standard forms. And when Hughes fell out with his dealer, the judge strictly applied those contract clauses. Poor Hughes went away without the Porsche, tail between his legs. Wait. Three judges in the Court of Appeal reversed the somewhat convincing analysis of the first judge - convincing, that is, on a strict application of the rules. The Court of Appeal, I say, took a commercial approach; some great lessons for construction disputomania.
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