CHAPTEK XIX 



CONTRACTS RELATING TO THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY AND 

 MACHINERY. 



TAGE 



1. Preliminary 199 



2. Contracts to supply power 199 



3. What is a " complete instal- 



lation " 



200 



4. What is "actual cost of 



generating light " ... 201 



5. Liability for fire and acci- 

 dents 202 



6. Latent defects in machinery 203 



1. Preliminary. Questions sometimes arise with regard 

 to contracts for electricity and machinery. Many cases of 

 this nature are discussed in the Courts, and brief notes of 

 them are sometimes published in the weekly journals. But 

 as they are of technical rather than legal interest, they do not 

 often find their way into the Law Keports. It is proposed to 

 consider the effect of some of the more important of these 

 cases in the course of this chapter. 



2. Contracts to supply power. Suppose there is a contract 

 to supply power, what are the obligations of the party sup- 

 plying it? In one case (Bentley v. Metcalfe, 1906, 2 K. B. 548) 

 the plaintiffs agreed to become tenants of a room in a factory 

 in which there was an engine, which was used to actuate the 

 machinery in the building, including a machine in the room 

 let to the plaintiffs, and the defendants agreed to supply power 

 for the working of that machine. The question was whether 

 the defendants were liable for an accident to one of the 

 plaintiff's workmen. The accident arose from the power 

 which worked the plaintiff's machine, doing so in such a 

 violent manner and at such a velocity that the drum of the 

 machine was burst, and a workman was killed by being struck 

 by one of the pieces. As employers, the plaintiffs were liable 

 to pay compensation to the widow of the workman, and they 

 brought an action to recover as damages the sum which they 

 had to pay. 



