In South Carolina, when a contractor wants to recover against someone for breaching an agreement, a written contract is not always required.  However, to qualify as a situation in which a written contract is not required, the contractor’s interaction with the other person must have consisted of certain elements.  The S.C. Supreme Court, in Myrtle Beach Hospital, Inc. v. City of Myrtle Beach, 532 S.E.2d 868 (2000), identified those factors that must be shown before a contractor may recover from another party when no written contract exists:

1.  The contractor provides a benefit to the other party;

2.  The other party realizes that he has received the benefit;

3.  The other party keeps the benefit, and under the circumstances, keeping the benefit without paying for it would be unfair. 

If a contractor can show the above three factors regarding his interaction with the other party, the contractor may be able to recover without having had a written contract.  But be aware that if the contractor has previously had written contracts, the court may apply the terms of those prior contracts, treating them as a course of conduct or the way in which the contractor usually does business.  This means that even though there is no written contract for the current agreement in question, the contractor should be prepared for the possibility that the court may apply the terms he has used in prior written contractual agreements.

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