Contractor Termination Due to Unforeseen Ground Conditions and Compensation Dispute

A contractor, hired to perform earthworks, prematurely terminated a contract after discovering that the site presented unforeseen, highly unstable ground conditions requiring specialized and more expensive techniques than originally estimated, which the client refused to compensate for beyond the initial scope. The court of cassation quashed the lower court's decision, reasoning that while the contractor was entitled to compensation for the additional, unforeseen work required due to the instability of the subsoil, the contract's termination based solely on the client's refusal to pay for this unavoidable extra cost, when the contractor was bound to perform, did not automatically constitute a breach by the client justifying unilateral rescission without proper notice or procedure.