MAINTENANCE AND DEFECT CLAUSES 179 



a man whose authority I made binding upon you, but as he 

 did not know what he was about, and because I suffered 

 damage from an authority which I myself made despotic over 

 you, I now turn round upon you to make you liable for the 

 damage I have sustained.' ' 



8. Form of defects clause. The form of contract sanc- 

 tioned by the Royal Institute of British Architects contains a 

 useful example of a defects clause. It makes the contractor 

 liable for " any defects, shrinkage, or .other faults which may 

 appear within months from the completion of the works, 

 arising in the opinion of the architect from materials or work- 

 manship not in accordance with the drawings and specification 

 or the instructions of the architect." The liability is here 

 confined to defects in material or workmanship, and apparently 

 the architect is to decide whether the contractor shall be held 

 liable or not. But the architect's decision on this point is 

 subject to the arbitration clause which appears elsewhere in 

 this particular form of contract. (For a definition of "defect," 

 see Chap. VI., 34, ante.) 



9. Effect of defects clause on defects appearing after the 

 stated period. Where the parties to a contract have made it 

 plain that the contractor is to be liable to remedy defects appear- 

 ing within a certain time, it would seem that this impliedly 

 releases the contractor from responsibility for defects subse- 

 quently appearing. In one case (Sharp v. Great Western 

 Railway, 1841, 11 L. J. Ex. 17) the plaintiffs had manufac- 

 tured certain locomotive engines under the following contract: 

 " Each engine and tender to be subject to a performance of a 

 distance of 1,000 miles, with proper loads, during which trial 

 Messrs. S. & Co. (the plaintiffs) are to be liable for any break- 

 age which may occur, if arising from defective materials or 

 workmanship; but they are not to be responsible for, nor 

 liable to the repair of any breakage or damage, whether 

 resulting from collision, neglect, or mismanagement of any 

 of the company's servants, or any other circumstances, save 

 and except defective materials or workmanship. The perform- 

 ance to which each engine is to be subjected to take place 

 within one month from the day on which the engine is 

 reported ready to start ; in default of which, Messrs. S. & Co. 

 shall forthwith be released from any responsibility in respect 



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