Liquidated Damages

Can I claim for liquidated damages without a signed contract and where the contract itself does not have a clause about liquidated damages?

I refer to a delay in the construction of our house for at least 4 months now without any clear explanation or reason given by the contractor. The number of workers on site on a weekly basis are kept to a minimum, that is, always less than ten. It think this is one factor that has caused the delay. There is no demonstrable intent to complete the works within the agreed 6-8 months duration before the start of the construction.

Thank you for your help.

I am not sure about the liquidated damage claim. You might want to ask a lawyer about that. The Public Attorney's Office in any city or municipal hall can give you free legal advice regarding that.

What I know you can file against the contractor is a clear breach of contract since they were not able to finish the construction of your home in the agreed-upon period. However, you may want to recheck the terms and conditions of your contract if there are any provisions that deal with reasonable delay of construction. At any rate, just bring the contract you have with your contractor and present it to the PAO for their perusal.

Under the Civil Code, liquidated damages are agreed upon by the parties to the contract, to be paid in case of breach thereof. If none has been agreed upon and none was written about it, then it cannot be collected from the other party.

However, the aggrieved party may collect actual, moral, exemplary damages or nominal damages even if none has been agreed upon about it.

Best regards,
Atty. Katrina

Katrina288 wrote:Under the Civil Code, liquidated damages are agreed upon by the parties to the contract, to be paid in case  of breach thereof. If none has been agreed upon and none was written about it, then it cannot be collected from the other party.

However, the aggrieved party may collect actual, moral, exemplary damages or nominal damages even if none has been agreed upon about it.

Best regards,
Atty. Katrina

Thank you for the more complete answer to the original poster's query. I am also enlightened by this, and I thank you for that.

May your practice of law be filled with fulfillment and happiness, Atty. Katrina. Godspeed!

If only the processing fee is written in the contract, can they include in liquidation some other expenses, which, i did not know they incurred?

Thank you for your response, Atty. Katrina. Is it possible to proceed with a demand letter that would outline damage claims without formally proceeding with a legal action against my contractor. The contractor has been terminated. I am waiting for a final billing.