Park Avin Corporation v. Asec Development

Summary

This Supreme Court case involved a construction contract dispute where ASEC Development sought release of P6.5 million retention money from Park Avin Corporation despite project non-completion. The VBP Commercial and Residential Building project was substantially completed (substructure 99.76%, superstructure 84.39%) when Makati City issued a work stop order due to Park Avin's Deed of Restrictions violations. After 6+ years of indefinite delay, CIAC awarded the retention money to ASEC, applying principles of fairness and substantial performance. The Supreme Court affirmed, distinguishing this from cases where contractors failed to meet completion requirements, emphasizing that external work stoppage due to the owner's violations justified retention money release under Civil Code Article 1234's substantial performance doctrine.