Plante v. Jacobs
Supreme Court of Wisconsin
103 N.W.2d 296 (1960)
Frank and Carol Jacobs (defendants) contracted with Eugene Plante (plaintiff) to build a house for $26,765, paying $20,000 before halting payment over concerns about construction quality, including plaster cracks, patio flaws, and a living room built one foot from its specified location. Plante stopped work and sought a lien for the remaining balance; the Jacobs argued Plante failed to substantially perform, given defects they claimed would cost 25 to 30 percent of the contract price to fix, but the trial court found substantial performance and applied a cost-of-repair measure of damages, and the Jacobses appealed.
Whether, where the specifications of performance were not made the essence of the contract, minor departures from those specifications are sufficient to bar a finding of substantial performance.