The claimant was a builder who was seeking to recover the balance of the price for refurbishment and alteration work to Mr and Mrs Noble's home. Work commenced on site in November 2000, but the contractor suspended its work in October 2001 because of the defendant's non-payment of invoices at that date. While there had been some delay to the completion of the works, a good many variations had been requested by the Nobles. An invoice of 2 August 2001 for £17,625.00 was not paid, and a course of correspondence through October and November related to its non-payment. During this time the builder requested further payment for works carried out after August. On h November 2001 the contractor demanded payment for £40,000. The contractor had effectively suspended work from October 2001 as a result of the non-payment.
The main issues were:

(a) The value of the work carried out by the contractor

(b) The extent and value of any defective work
(c) Whether the suspension of the work by the contractor amounted to a repudiation of the contract by the builder