SUB-CONTRACTORS AND SUB-CONTRACTING 187 



4. Clauses to prevent or regulate sub-contracting. The 

 following clause may be inserted if it is desired to ensure that 

 the contractor shall carry out all the work himself : " This 

 contract is and shall be considered as a personal contract 

 by the contractor himself, who shall personally, with the 

 assistance of skilled foremen, agents, mechanics, and work- 

 men, direct and execute the works." The more approved 

 practice, however, is to leave it to the engineer to say whether 

 and how far sub-contractors may be employed. The following 

 clause, which is to be found in the model conditions approved 

 by the Institute of Electrical Engineers, may be safely used : 

 " The contractor shall not, without the consent in writing of 

 the engineer, assign his contract, or any substantial part 

 thereof, nor underlet the same or any substantial part 

 thereof, nor make any sub-contract with any person or persons 

 for the execution of any portion of the works, other than for 

 raw materials, for minor details, or for any part of the work 

 of which the makers are named in the contract." (See 

 Form HA., Cl. 15, post.) Another form of clause prevents 

 the contractor from making a sub-contract with any workman 

 or workmen for the execution of any portion of the work, 

 except with the consent of the engineer. It also provides that 

 if the contractor shall sub-let or let at task work any portion 

 of the work he shall in such case forfeit to the employer the 

 sum of 100 as liquidated damages. 



5. Liability of employer to sub-contractor. The employer 

 is not liable to a sub-contractor, unless an agreement between 

 them can be proved. Such an agreement will not be implied 

 from the mere acceptance of the sub-contractor's work. For 

 instance, where an employer contracted with a builder to do 

 certain work on his house, and a tradesman supplied goods 

 to the builder for use on the house, it was held that the 

 employer was not liable for their price. (See the case of 

 Brahmah v. Abingdon, cited in Paterson v. Gandasequi, 1812, 

 15 East, 62.) The employer does, however, become liable if 

 it can be shown that there is a contract between him and the 

 sub-contractor. For instance, in another case a contractor 

 employed a mason to do certain work as extra to the contract. 

 In an action for work and materials by the mason against the 

 contractor's employer, the plaintiff stated that the work in 

 question was extra to the contractor's contract and that he 



