Phillips v. American Cement Tile Manufacturing Co.

Citations

• 220 Pa. 141
• 69 A. 589
• 1908 Pa. LEXIS 737

Syllabus

<p>Contract — Written instrument — Evidence—Modification of contract.</p> <p>A presumption which is almost conclusive is, that when work is commenced under a written contract providing for its compensation, it is prosecuted to the end for such compensation, and this presumption is not to be overcome by less proof than is required to vary, modify or contradict a written agreement on the ground of the omission from it, by fraud, accident or mistake, of a contemporaneous parol agreement; but this rule does not apply where the variation is not from the compensation, but from the work to be performed.</p> <p>It is always competent for the parties to a written contract to show that it was subsequently abandoned in whole or in part, modified, changed or a new one substituted. And this may be shown by parol, by showing either an express agreement, or actions necessarily involving the alteration.</p>