Explain the standard of substantial performance as it relates to contract performance and discharge

What will be an ideal response?

In most cases, parties to an agreement discharge their contractual obligation by doing what was required by the terms of the agreement. Many times, however, performance is substantial rather than complete. Traditional common law allowed suits for breach of contract if there was not complete performance of every detail of the contract. Today, however, the standard is substantial performance. This standard requires: a) completion of nearly all the terms of the agreement; b) an honest effort to complete all the terms; and c) no willful departure from the terms of the agreement. Courts usually find substantial performance when there is only a minor breach of contract. For example, A, a contractor, agreed to build a house with five bedrooms for B. By the terms of the agreement, each of the rooms was to be painted blue. By mistake, one was painted pink, and B refused to pay A the $10,000 balance due on the house. The court awarded A $10,000 minus the cost of painting the wrongly painted room, finding that that departure from the contract terms was slight and unintentional and, therefore, insufficient for B to refuse to perform (pay) as agreed to in the contract.