A man who argued his motor vehicle accident was an act of God that absolved him of his contractual duties has been ordered by a judge to pay more than $215,000 for not completing a construction job.

Following a trial in Yukon Supreme Court, Justice Karan Shaner ruled that James Morehouse breached his contract for the construction of a duplex in Whitehorse.

He is liable for the thousands of dollars homeowner Margaret Jack spent on hiring other contractors to finish the project and renting alternate accommodations until the home was complete.

Morehouse is also responsible for Jack’s loss of rental revenue, Shaner wrote in her Nov. 14 decision.

While Jack and Morehouse included an “act of God” clause in the contract, a motor vehicle accident is not an act of God, Shaner determined.

As set out in the case law, this clause serves to “discharge a contracting party when a supervening, sometimes supernatural, event, beyond control of either party, makes performance impossible.”

It usually involves an unexpected event, “something beyond reasonable foresight and skill.”

The possibility of injury is not beyond human foresight, Shaner said.

“Time was an essential term of the contract and the breach was substantial in the circumstances,” the judge said in her written decision.

By September 2013, three months after the home was originally supposed to have been completed, the duplex was not half-built.

That’s when Jack ended the contract.

She had negotiated the job with Morehouse a year prior, in October 2012, with a completion date set for June 2013 and a $488,000 price tag for his services and materials.

In addition to the act of God clause, they also included an injury clause, which stipulated that if Morehouse became unable to finish the job because of injury, Jack could end the contract.She intended to live in one half of the duplex and rent out the other side for $1,800 per month.

In early 2013, Morehouse was in an accident. He testified at trial that this affected his ability to work.

Jack said although she was aware of the accident, Morehouse said at the time it wouldn’t interfere with construction.

But the project soon fell behind schedule. They worked out a revised plan for completion, and twice bumped back the finish date – first to July 2013, then to September.

Jack had paid Morehouse about $288,000 by this point, including a $65,000 advance for supplies “for which he was unable to account,” the decision states.

Upon ending the contract, she hired other contractors to finish the job, at an additional cost of $388,000. The duplex was finally finished in June of this year.

Morehouse maintained he didn’t breach the contract, so he isn’t responsible for damages. And the reason he didn’t meet the completion date was because of his injuries from the accident.

But Shaner noted that Morehouse’s injuries didn’t make his job impossible – he continued to work on at least one other construction project, which he completed in November 2013.

“He also continued to sign documents in which he and Ms. Jack agreed to new schedules and completion dates, and he asked Ms. Jack to advance money to him to purchase materials for the project, which she did,” Shaner wrote.

“But for Mr. Morehouse’s failure to complete the project within the time required, Ms. Jack would have had the structure completed for the contract price and she would have had the benefit of rental revenues and a home for herself between September 27, 2013 and June 30, 2014.”

So Jack is entitled to the $189,000 she paid above the original contract price, $16,200 in lost revenue, and $10,800 for her own rent during the nine-month period.

That’s a total of $216,000 Morehouse must pay, plus pre- and post-judgment interest.