Pinches v. Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church
Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut
10 A. 264 (Conn. 1887)
The plaintiff builder constructed a church for the defendant, but the finished building deviated from the contract's specifications in several respects — a lower ceiling, smaller windows, and narrower seats among other variations — even though the builder acted in good faith throughout. The church owner took possession and objected to the variations as soon as it noticed them, but by that point it would have been nearly impossible to bring the building into full compliance without partially demolishing and rebuilding it; the owner withheld payment for labor and materials, and the builder sued. The trial court awarded the builder the contract price minus the diminution in value caused by the deviations, and the owner appealed.
Whether, in a building contract where the resulting structure does not exactly conform to specifications but the owner still benefits from and uses the building, the builder must always bring the building into full compliance with the contract at his own cost.