Mary Signs a Contract for an Addition to Her Home

question 78

Essay

Mary signs a contract for an addition to her home that will extend the living room and add two bedrooms to the house. The contractor is responsible for all the design and construction, as well as all the redecorating of the living room and the decorating of the two bedrooms. The following provision is part of the contract:
The parties agree that all the work in this contract must meet Mary’s own personal satisfaction. In addition, the work must also meet the approval and satisfaction of Mary’s brother, who is a builder and licensed contractor.
Mary’s brother lives in another city and is not involved in the planning or construction of the addition, but has agreed with Mary to inspect the work at or near the time of completion. Mary has this work done while she is living in another country for a couple of months. Upon her return, the work is almost finished. She does not like the following aspects of the work:
1. The roofing material on the addition does not match the material on the rest of the house.
2. She does not like the style of the new draperies, although they are high quality and of a current style.
3. She is displeased with some of the workmanship on the wood trim around the windows. She admits that she is a perfectionist about this and that most persons would be satisfied with it.
4. The concrete foundation under the addition was not as thick as she would like it. It is of standard thickness and would be satisfactory to most persons.
Her brother comes and inspects the addition. He notes three problems:
1. The slope of the new part of the roof is not steep enough for the type of roofing materials used. They should have used something more appropriate for a nearly flat roof.
2. There should have been a bathroom included as part of the addition. The house originally had three bedrooms and one bathroom. Now there are five bedrooms and only one bathroom. Furthermore, the new bedrooms are located a long distance from the bathroom.
3. The windows are not of sufficient quality.

Mary wants to force the contractor to make all of these changes based on the personal satisfaction clause in the contract. Which of these, if any, can she force the contractor to change? Explain your reasoning with respect to each item.

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Definitions:

New Information

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Fifth-grade Teacher

A teacher specialized in educating students who are typically in the fifth grade, around 10-11 years old.

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Austrian neurologist known for founding psychoanalysis, a method for treating psychopathology.

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