Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- P'ninat Mishpat
Ruling: Most monetary agreements require a kinyan (act of finalization). However, in regard to work obligations, the beginning of the work serves as the kinyan. In the case of work that is paid by the job, beginning the job obligates the worker to finish the job and obligates the employer to continue the employment until work’s end according to the conditions that were set (see Nimukei Yosef, Rif’s pages to Bava Metzia 46b and K’tzot Hachoshen 332:6). The fact that pl presented a work estimate and started to work should ostensibly mean that he is entitled to the stated amount.
On the other hand, def claims that the fact that she did not sign the estimate is an indication that she never intended to agree to those prices. The Shulchan Aruch and Rama (Choshen Mishpat 81:7) discuss the idea of shtika k’hoda’ah (silence can sometimes be understood as agreement). One application is that when a third party sets a price for a teacher to teach a child in the presence of the father who stands by quietly, the father is responsible (ibid. 336:1).
This concept certainly applies in our case. Def asked for an estimate and then without arguing over it, asked pl to begin working. This is equivalent to explicitly agreeing to the price. If she did not agree to the price, she should have told him before he began working. We should add that there is no common practice to wait for a signed estimate before beginning work. Therefore, the fact that def did not sign the estimate is not a sign of anything out of the ordinary. Even if we accept def’s claim that she had in mind to not bind herself to the price, "matters known only to the heart are of no consequence."
P'ninat Mishpat (802)
Various Rabbis
227 - Aborted Rental
228 - Unsigned Estimates for a Contractor
229 - Unsigned Estimates for a Contractor
Load More
P'ninat Mishpat: Dividing Returns on Partially Cancelled Trip – part II
based on ruling 84070 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Av 5785
P'ninat Mishpat: Benefit from Unsolicited Efforts of the Plaintiff
based on appeal of ruling 82138 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Av 5785
P'ninat Mishpat: Rental of an Apartment that Was Not Quite Ready – part II
based on ruling 82031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Iyar 5784
