Wickman Machine Tool Sales Ltd v L Schuler AG (1972) 2 All ER 1173, (1972) 1 WLR 840, CA.
In this case the House of Lords considered the meaning of the word "condition" in a term of a contract.
The terms stated that:
"It shall be [a] condition of this agreement that:
(i) Sales shall send its representatives to visit the six firms whose names are listed in the Schedule hereto at least once in every week for the purpose of soliciting orders for panel presses."
Lord Reid stated: "What is contended is that the terms of clause 7 'sufficiently express an intention' to make any breach, however small, of the obligation to make visits a condition so that any breach shall entitle Schuler to rescind the whole contract if they so desire. Schuler maintains that the use of the word 'condition' is in itself enough to establish this intention. No doubt some words used by lawyers do have a rigid inflexible meaning. But we must remember that we are seeking to discover intention as disclosed by the contract as a whole. Use of the word 'condition' is an indication--even a strong indication--of such an intention but it is by no means conclusive.
This case shows that the deliberate use of the word "condition" in a contract, particularly when it is used in only one part of a lengthy agreement containing many provisions, is an indication that non-fulfilment of the condition will terminate the agreement, unless this construction leads to a very unreasonable result.
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