The Sale of Goods Act

The Sale of Goods Act is the primary law governing the sale of property other than land. Sales contracts are also subject to common law rules relating to contracts where these rules are not inconsistent with the Act.

The Act establishes general rules that affect the formation of contracts:

• capacity of parties to contract;
• form of the contract;
• writing requirements;
• determination of price; and
• conditions and warranties.

The Act also deals with other rules that generally affect all contracts for the sale of goods, including rules for:

• determining when the goods become the property of the buyer;
• seller's and buyer's obligations;
• part performance of the contract;
• cancellation of the contract;
• rights of the unpaid seller against the goods, including unpaid seller's liens;
• resale of the goods by the buyer or seller; and
• remedies for breach of the contract.