CONTRACTS FINAL EXAM - PROF. FERRIELL - FALL 1997
QUESTION 3
Phoebe King had an in-ground swimming pool constructed in her back yard. A city child
safety ordinance requires any swimming pool to be surrounded by a fence at least 3'
6" in height. Accordingly, Phoebe entered into a written contract with the Suburban
Fence Co. to have a 4' high chain-link fence built around the perimeter of her yard, for a
price of $4000. At the time the agreement was entered into Phoebe provided Suburban with a
$1,000 down payment and promised to pay the balance upon completion of the job. The
agreement provided that Suburban would complete the job by June 1, 1997. Suburban began
work and by May 27, 1997, had completed 3/4 of the fence, at a cost of $3300, when Phoebe
discovered that the fence completed thus far was only 3' 11" high.
She immediately ordered Suburban off the job and contracted with City Fence
Co. to tear out the work done by Suburban and replace it with chain-link fence which was
4' high, but otherwise identical to that installed by Suburban. She paid City $500 to
remove the work done by Suburban and also paid City $4,500 to install a 4' fence. On June
3, 1997 after the work done by Suburban had been torn down, but before City Fence was able
to begin constructing the 4' fence, an adult neighbor fell into the unfilled swimming pool
and suffered serious physical injury. Even though the neighbor was fully insured, Phoebe
was afraid he would sue and thus she quickly wrote him promising to pay his $10,000
medical bills.
Draft a memo Analyzing Phoebe's potential rights and liabilities in any dispute with
Suburban over the fence. Explain your reasoning fully. Limit your answer to 4 pages in a
bluebook.