INTERIOR DESIGN ETHICS - PART 2

• Law on Contracts and Obligations: A rule of conduct that is just, obligatory, and established by a legitimate authority for common observance and benefit.

Requisites of Law

• Rule of conduct.
• Just or presumed to be just.
• Laid down by a legitimate power.
• Obligatory or compulsory.
• Sanction for non-observance.

Ignorance of the Law

• Ignorantia lege neminem excusat: Ignorance of the law excuses no one.

Divisions of Law

• Non-Legal Sense:
  • Divine Law: Based on faith, concerned with sin.
  • Natural Law: Based on morality, basis of state law.
  • Moral Law: Norms of good conduct in a community.
  • Physical Law: Laws of physical science.
• Strictly-Legal Sense:
  • Private Law: Regulates relations between individuals.
  • Public Law: Governs relations between an individual and the State.
  • Substantive Law: Establishes rights and duties.
  • Procedural Law: Enforces rights or claims.

Sources of Law

• Constitution.
• Legislation.
• Administrative rules and regulations.
• Judicial decisions or jurisprudence.
• Custom and other supplementary sources.

Sanctions for Non-Observance

• Fine.
• Imprisonment.
• Forfeiture of property.
• Liability for damage.
• Expulsion/Exile.

Obligation

• Juridical necessity to give, to do, or not to do; derived from Latin obligation (tying or binding).

Elements of an Obligation

• Active Subject: Can compel compliance.
• Passive Subject: Compelled to perform.
• Juridical Tie: Binds the parties.
• Prestation: Object/undertaking of the obligation.

Kinds of Obligation

• Civil Obligations: Gives right of action.
• Natural Obligations: Based on equality, no right of action to enforce.

Key Articles

• Article 1156: Obligation is a juridical necessity to give, to do, or not to do.
• Article 1159: Obligations from contracts have the force of law.
• Article 1167: If a person fails to do something, it shall be executed at his cost.
• Article 1170: Sources of liability for damages include fraud, negligence, delay, and contravention of the tenor of the obligation.
  • Fraud – dolo, intentional non-performance of obligation; deception.
  • Negligence - culpa, carelessness or lack of diligence.
  • Delay – mora, on the part of the debtor
  • Contravention of the tenor of obligation –Violation of the stipulations in the obligation
• Article 1174: No responsibility for unforeseen or inevitable events (fortuitous events/force majeure).

Extinguishment of Obligations (Article 1231)

• Payment or Performance.
• Loss of the thing due.
• Remission.
• Merger of rights.
• Compensation.
• Novation.
• Other causes: annulment, rescission, compromise, impossibility, fortuitous event.

Payment

• Delivery of money, rendition of service, and performance of obligation.
• Article 1235: Payment produces extinguishment of obligation

Contract

• An agreement effective to give rise to a civil obligation; parties can stipulate unless contrary to law, morals, etc.

Characteristics of Contracts

• Consensuality: Perfected by mere consent.
• Relativity: Takes effect only between parties, assigns, and heirs.
• Mutuality: Binds both parties, validity/compliance cannot be left to one party’s will.
• Autonomy: Parties may establish stipulations as they deem convenient.

Stages of a Contract

• Generation (Negotiation).
• Birth (Meeting of minds).
• Termination (Performance of obligation).

Key Articles

• Article 1314: Third person inducing another to violate a contract is liable for damages.
• Article 1317: Requirements of a Person to Contract in the Name of Another (Agent)
  • Must be duly authorized.
  • Must have by law a right to represent him.
  • The contract must be subsequently ratified.
• Requisites for a Valid Contract (Consent, Object, and Cause)

Types of Contract

• Consensual: Perfected by mere consent.
• Real: Requires consent + delivery.
• Solemn: Requires consent + required formality.

Consent (Article 1319)

• Conformity of wills, manifested by meeting of offer and acceptance.
• Requirements: two or more parties, parties capable, no violation of consent, intent declared properly.

Offer

• A proposal to enter into a contract.
• Acceptance is always required, otherwise there is no meeting of minds and hence no agreement
• Offer becomes ineffective prior to acceptance for several reasons, including death, insanity, insolvency, failure to comply with conditions, lapse of time, destruction of the thing due, rejection, or illegality.

Acceptance

• Manifestation of agreement to the terms of the offer.
• Must be absolute and constitute a counter-offer.

Persons Incapacitated to give Consent:

• Unemancipated minor.
• Insane or demented persons.
• Deaf-mutes who do not know how to write.

Causes That Deem a Contract Voidable

• MISTAKE - Unconscious ignorance of the existence or non-existence of a fact, past or present, material to the contract.
• VIOLENCE - Serious or irresistible force is employed in order to wrest consent.
• INTIMIDATION - One of the contracting parties is compelled by a reasonable and well- grounded fear of an imminent and grave evil upon him or his property.
• UNDUE INFLUENCE - When a person takes improper advantage over the will of another, depriving the latter of a reasonable freedom of choice.
• FRAUD - Through insidious words or machinations of one of the contracting parties, the other is induced to enter to a contract, which without them, he would not have agreed to - Two kinds of Fraud: * Incidental Fraud * Casual Fraud

Objects of a Contract

• Future things may be the object of a contract provided they have potential existence.
• Requirements: Not outside commerce, transmissible, not contrary to law, possible, determinate.

Kinds of Defective Contracts

• Rescissible: Can be rescinded for reparation of damage.
• Voidable: Valid unless annulled by court action.
• Unenforceable: Cannot be enforced unless ratified.
• Void: No effect, cannot be ratified.

Contract For A Piece of Work

• CONTRACTOR SUPPLIED MATERIALS (CSM)
• OWNER SUPPLIED MATERIALS (OSM)

Two Common Forms of Contract For A Piece of Work

• LUMP SUM CONTRACT
• COST PLUS CONTRACT

Discharge of Contract

• Performance.
• Substantial Performance.
• Impossibility of Performance.
• Agreement.
• Breach of Contract.

Damages

• Estimated compensation for damage sustained.

Kind of Damages

• Actual Damages.
• Moral Damages.
• Nominal Damages.
• Temperate Damages.
• Liquidated Damages.
• Exemplary Damages.

National Building Code of the Philippines (PD 1096)

• Adopted in 1977, revising R.A. No. 6541.
• Policy: To safeguard life, health, property, and public welfare.
• Purpose: Framework of minimum standards for buildings and structures.
• Scope: Covers architecture, civil/structure, electrical, mechanical, sanitary, plumbing, electronics, and interior design.
• Exemptions: Traditional indigenous family dwellings, BP 220 housing projects.

Administration and Enforcement

• Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and Communications is responsible for administration and enforcement.
• Building Officials: Enforce the code in the field.

Building Permits

• Required for construction, alteration, repair, etc.

Types of Construction (Section 401)

• Type I: Wood Construction
• Type II: Wood Construction with fire-resistant materials
• Type III: Masonry and wood construction
• Type IV: Steel, iron, concrete, or masonry construction
• Type V: Fire-resistive

Fire Zones

• Areas where only certain types of buildings are allowed based on use, construction, and fire resistance.

Occupancy Classified (Section 701)

• Group A: Residential Dwellings
• Group B: Residential, Hotels, and Apartments
• Group C: Education and Recreation
• Group D: Institutional
• Group E: Business and Mercantile
• Group F: Industrial
• Group H: Assembly Other Than Group I
• Group I: Assembly Occupant Load 1000 or More
• Group J: Accessory.