Metropolitan Water Board v Dick Kerr and Co Ltd [1918] AC 119 is an English contract law

English contract law

English contract law is a body of law regulating contracts in England and Wales. With its roots in the lex mercatoria and the activism of the judiciary during the industrial revolution, it shares a heritage with countries across the Commonwealth , and the United States...

 case, concerning the frustration

Frustration in English law

Frustration in English law is an English contract law doctrine, which acts as a device to set aside contracts where an unforeseen event either renders contractual obligations impossible, or radically changes the party's principal purpose for entering into the contract...

 of an agreement.

Facts

Dick Kerr agreed to build a reservoir in six years for the Metropolitan Water Board (London). The contract said that Dick Kerr and Co Ltd should apply to the engineer for an extension of time in the event of delay ‘whatsoever and howsoever occasioned’. Dick Kerr were then required to stop work and sell their plant because of a Government Order.

Judgment

The House of Lords held that the contract was frustrated, because the delay clause was intended to cover temporary difficulties, and not such fundamental changes in the contract’s nature.