Knowledge

R v Ron Engineering and Construction (Eastern) Ltd

Source 📝

198:
low bidder by a substantial margin. It was then discovered that the price on the tender documents was far lower than the price that Ron Engineering had intended to submit, and that they had made a mistake in calculating their total bid price. They informed the owner of the mistake and tried to have the offer changed. The change was refused, the contract was given to another company, and the owner kept Ron Engineering's bid deposit. Ron Engineering sued to get their deposit back. The owner counter-claimed for costs incurred as a result of having to go with a different bidder. At trial the counter-claim was dismissed but it was held that the owner was entitled to keep the deposit. The Ontario Court of Appeal reversed the trial decision and held, relying on the contractual doctrine of mistake, that Ron Engineering was entitled to get its deposit back. The owner appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
29: 282:
obligations under contract A. It is not correct to say that when a mistake was proven after the tenders were opened by the production of reasonable evidence, the person to whom the tender was made could neither accept the tender nor forfeit the deposit. The test was to be imposed when the tender was submitted, not at a later date, and at that time the rights of the parties under contract A crystallized, at least in circumstances where the tender was capable of acceptance in law.
286:
error in the sense that the contractor did not intend to submit the tender in its form and substance. Then, too, there was no principle in law under which the tender was rendered incapable of acceptance by the appellant. No mistake existed which impeded the coming into being of contract A. The effect of a mistake upon the formation, enforceability or interpretation of a subsequent construction contract need not be considered in this case.
212: 145: 290:
conditions of which had been met. The omission by the owner to insert the number of weeks specified by the tender in the appropriate blank in the contract had no bearing on the rights of the parties to the appeal and did not stand in the way of the owner’s asserting its right to retain the deposit.
285:
There was no question of mistake on the part of either party before the moment when contract A came into existence. The tender, despite its being the product of a mistaken calculation, could be subject to the terms and conditions of contract A so as to invoke forfeiture of the deposit. There was no
289:
The issue did not concern the law of mistake but the application of the forfeiture provisions contained in the tender documents. The deposit was recoverable by the contractor under certain conditions, none of which was met, and also was subject to forfeiture under another term of the contract, the
197:
A call for tenders was sent out requiring a deposit of $ 150,000 which would be lost if the tendered offer was withdrawn. Ron Engineering submitted an offer along with the required deposit in the form of a certified cheque. The submitted tenders were opened by the owner and Ron Engineering was the
130:
for a construction job could constitute a binding contract. The Court held that indeed in many cases the submission of an offer in response to a call for tenders constitutes a contract separate from the eventual contract for the construction. With the release of the decision, the tendering process
281:
The principal term of contract A was the irrevocability of the bid and the corollary term was the obligation in both parties to enter into a construction contract, contract B, upon the acceptance of the tender. The deposit was required to ensure the performance by the contractor-tenderer of its
339: 229: 162: 73:
APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, (1979) 24 O.R. (2d) 332; (1979) 98 D.L.R. (3d) 548, reversing the judgment of Holland J.
307: 505: 398: 510: 515: 323: 251: 184: 54:
Her Majesty The Queen in right of Ontario and the Water Resources Commission v Ron Engineering & Construction (Eastern) Limited
411: 331: 393:
Government Procurement, Fourth Edition, by Paul Emanuelli, p. 125, Published by Lexis Nexis Canada, Year of Publication: 2017,
233: 166: 384:
Sandori, Paul and William M. Pigott, Bidding and Tendering: What is the Law? 3rd ed. (Markham, ON: LexisNexis, 2004).
315: 439: 431: 365: 222: 155: 119: 34: 373: 28: 344: 435: 369: 127: 298:
Tendering has become the focus of six significant decisions of the Supreme Court. Subsequent to
394: 462: 450: 319:(rejecting the existence of a tort of negligence in the conduct of commercial negotiations), 486: 474: 499: 60: 327:(on the formation of tender contracts between general contracts and subcontractors), 271:- a unilateral contract arising automatically upon the submission of a tender, and 211: 144: 274: 268: 340:
Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. British Columbia (Transportation and Highways)
123: 412:"Supreme Court Decisions on the Law of Bidding and Tendering in Canada" 264:
The Supreme Court held that the tender process involved two contracts:
236: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 169: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 335:(on the issue of compliance with the terms of a call for tenders), and 205: 138: 126:. The case concerned the issue of whether the acceptance of a 308:
M.J.B. Enterprises Ltd. v Defence Construction (1951) Ltd.
277:- the contract awarded upon the tender's acceptance. 103: 98: 90: 85: 77: 69: 59: 49: 42: 21: 115:R v Ron Engineering and Construction (Eastern) Ltd 22:R v Ron Engineering and Construction (Eastern) Ltd 94:Martland, Dickson, Estey, Mclntyre and Lamer JJ. 324:Naylor Group Inc. v Ellis-Don Construction Ltd. 131:practiced in Canada was fundamentally changed. 311:(on the use of exclusion clauses in tenders), 8: 332:Double N Earthmovers Ltd. v Edmonton (City) 252:Learn how and when to remove this message 185:Learn how and when to remove this message 357: 343:(clarifying the distinctions between a 18: 122:decision on the law of tendering for 7: 234:adding citations to reliable sources 167:adding citations to reliable sources 14: 210: 143: 65:1981 CanLII 17 (SCC), 1 SCR 111 27: 302:, judgments have come down in: 221:needs additional citations for 154:needs additional citations for 1: 506:Supreme Court of Canada cases 316:Martel Building Ltd. v Canada 475:[2007] 1 S.C.R. 116 463:[2001] 2 S.C.R. 943 451:[2000] 2 S.C.R. 860 16:Supreme Court of Canada case 487:[2010] 1 S.C.R. 69 532: 511:Canadian contract case law 516:1981 in Canadian case law 118:, of 1981 is the leading 26: 432:Supreme Court of Canada 430:1 SCR 619 Full text of 366:Supreme Court of Canada 120:Supreme Court of Canada 35:Supreme Court of Canada 345:request for proposal 230:improve this article 163:improve this article 104:Unanimous reasons by 45:Judgment: 1981-01-27 43:Hearing: 1980-11-13 399:978-0-433-47454-8 262: 261: 254: 195: 194: 187: 111: 110: 523: 490: 484: 478: 472: 466: 460: 454: 448: 442: 428: 422: 421: 419: 418: 407: 401: 391: 385: 382: 376: 362: 257: 250: 246: 243: 237: 214: 206: 190: 183: 179: 176: 170: 147: 139: 128:call for tenders 86:Court membership 31: 19: 531: 530: 526: 525: 524: 522: 521: 520: 496: 495: 494: 493: 485: 481: 473: 469: 461: 457: 449: 445: 429: 425: 416: 414: 409: 408: 404: 392: 388: 383: 379: 363: 359: 354: 300:Ron Engineering 296: 258: 247: 241: 238: 227: 215: 204: 191: 180: 174: 171: 160: 148: 137: 91:Puisne Justices 81:Appeal allowed. 44: 38: 17: 12: 11: 5: 529: 527: 519: 518: 513: 508: 498: 497: 492: 491: 479: 467: 455: 443: 423: 402: 386: 377: 356: 355: 353: 350: 349: 348: 347:and a tender). 336: 328: 320: 312: 295: 292: 279: 278: 272: 260: 259: 218: 216: 209: 203: 200: 193: 192: 151: 149: 142: 136: 133: 109: 108: 105: 101: 100: 96: 95: 92: 88: 87: 83: 82: 79: 75: 74: 71: 67: 66: 63: 57: 56: 51: 50:Full case name 47: 46: 40: 39: 32: 24: 23: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 528: 517: 514: 512: 509: 507: 504: 503: 501: 488: 483: 480: 476: 471: 468: 465:, 2001 SCC 58 464: 459: 456: 453:, 2000 SCC 60 452: 447: 444: 441: 437: 433: 427: 424: 413: 406: 403: 400: 396: 390: 387: 381: 378: 375: 371: 367: 364:Full text of 361: 358: 351: 346: 342: 341: 337: 334: 333: 329: 326: 325: 321: 318: 317: 313: 310: 309: 305: 304: 303: 301: 293: 291: 287: 283: 276: 273: 270: 267: 266: 265: 256: 253: 245: 235: 231: 225: 224: 219:This section 217: 213: 208: 207: 201: 199: 189: 186: 178: 168: 164: 158: 157: 152:This section 150: 146: 141: 140: 134: 132: 129: 125: 121: 117: 116: 106: 102: 99:Reasons given 97: 93: 89: 84: 80: 76: 72: 70:Prior history 68: 64: 62: 58: 55: 52: 48: 41: 37: 36: 30: 25: 20: 489:, 2010 SCC 4 482: 477:, 2007 SCC 3 470: 458: 446: 434:decision at 426: 415:. Retrieved 410:Adam Baker. 405: 389: 380: 368:decision at 360: 338: 330: 322: 314: 306: 299: 297: 288: 284: 280: 263: 248: 239: 228:Please help 223:verification 220: 196: 181: 172: 161:Please help 156:verification 153: 114: 113: 112: 53: 33: 242:August 2019 175:August 2019 500:Categories 438: and 417:2012-01-31 372: and 352:References 275:Contract B 269:Contract A 135:Background 294:Aftermath 124:contracts 61:Citations 202:Decision 107:Estey J. 440:CanLII 397:  374:CanLII 78:Ruling 436:LexUM 370:LexUM 395:ISBN 232:by 165:by 502:: 420:. 255:) 249:( 244:) 240:( 226:. 188:) 182:( 177:) 173:( 159:.

Index

Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
Citations
Supreme Court of Canada
contracts
call for tenders

verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
Learn how and when to remove this message

verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
Learn how and when to remove this message
Contract A
Contract B
M.J.B. Enterprises Ltd. v Defence Construction (1951) Ltd.
Martel Building Ltd. v Canada
Naylor Group Inc. v Ellis-Don Construction Ltd.
Double N Earthmovers Ltd. v Edmonton (City)
Tercon Contractors Ltd. v. British Columbia (Transportation and Highways)
request for proposal
Supreme Court of Canada
LexUM
CanLII
ISBN
978-0-433-47454-8
"Supreme Court Decisions on the Law of Bidding and Tendering in Canada"

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.