Also known as: perform a duty · performing a duty · performed a duty · duty performance · fulfillment of duty
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Fulfillment of an obligation under a contract or imposed by law. Full performance discharges the duty. When performance is due, any nonperformance constitutes a breach. Performance subject to a condition cannot become due unless the condition occurs or its nonoccurrence is excused.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Patrick Phan agreed to pay Priya Prasad $50,000 for completing a software project only after the client approved the final build. Priya finished the code but the client never approved it. Patrick refused payment. The court held that Patrick's duty never became due because the approval condition had not occurred.
MetroBus hired HealthCheck to perform all driver fitness screenings that MetroBus had previously conducted itself. HealthCheck negligently cleared a driver with untreated epilepsy. The driver later caused a crash injuring passenger Paula. HealthCheck faced liability because it had undertaken MetroBus's duty to screen drivers for passenger safety.
Pinecrest Management hired ArborPro to trim unsafe tree limbs on leased property that Pinecrest was obligated to maintain. ArborPro left a rotten limb in place. The limb later fell and injured a guest at the tenants' barbecue. Pinecrest remained liable for the harm because it had delegated its duty to keep the premises reasonably safe.
Crown Automotive delivered every custom brake assembly required under its contract with Noon Cars. Noon accepted the parts and paid the contract price. Crown later faced no further obligation for those units because its performance fully discharged the contractual duty.
Orion Network Services told NorthPlains Telecom it would stop overnight monitoring and provide only daytime service under their three-year contract. NorthPlains sought an order requiring full performance. The court treated Orion's announcement as a breach because performance was due and the partial delivery fell short.
Highland Indemnity contracted to insure a unique sculpture only after completing an in-person appraisal at Samuel's gallery. A burst pipe destroyed the sculpture before any appraisal occurred. Highland's duty to provide coverage was discharged because the specific sculpture necessary for performance no longer existed.
Performance cannot become due unless the condition occurs or its nonoccurrence is excused. The nonoccurrence of the condition discharges the duty when the condition can no longer occur.
Full performance discharges the duty. Once the obligor has rendered the required performance, no further obligation remains under that duty.
When performance is due, any nonperformance is a breach. The injured party may then pursue remedies for the breach.
Yes. If the existence of a specific thing is necessary for performance, its destruction or deterioration that makes performance impracticable is an event the nonoccurrence of which was a basic assumption on which the contract was made.
Yes. One who undertakes to perform a duty owed by another to a third person is subject to liability to the third person for physical harm resulting from failure to exercise reasonable care.
Yes. A landlord who employs an independent contractor to perform a duty the landlord owes to maintain the leased property in reasonably safe condition remains subject to liability for physical harm caused by the contractor's failure to exercise reasonable care.