Able Paving, Inc. v. F & R Builders, Inc.
Able Paving, Inc. v. F & R Builders, Inc.
Concurring in Part
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
There are three issues in this case. The first is whether the trial court had record evidence upon which to conclude that the developer and the paving contractor had orally agreed that the latter was to install driveways which were ten feet in width. All of us agree that it did.
The second is whether we should conclude that the trial court was correct in implicitly holding that the contractor had failed to carry its burden of proving the affirmative defense of waiver.
The third issue concerns the measure of damages. The record suggests the method appellant intended to use to widen the driveways involved less tampering with work already done than the method used by the contractor appellee retained. Because the original paving was done for only $150 per driveway, I would question whether the trial court properly applied the appropriate measure of damages which was set forth by the Florida Supreme Court in Grossman Holdings Ltd. v. Hourihan, 414 So.2d 1037 (Fla. 1982).
In Grossman the Supreme Court adopted subsection 346(l)(a) of the Restatement (First) of Contracts (1932). For defective construction of a specified product, the measure of damages is either (1) the reasonable cost of construction in accordance with the contract, if this is possible and does not involve unreasonable economic waste, or (2) the difference in value between the product contracted for and the performance received. Id. at 1039.
I would remand for the trial court to determine whether the method employed to correct the defect involved unreasonable economic waste; and, if there was such waste, to determine and award the value of
. A straightforward disquisition on waiver in this context is found at 5 Williston on Contracts 724 (3d ed. 1961).
Opinion of the Court
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.