Questão jurídica principal
Whether the architect's approval of the final invoice under Art. 154 SIA Norm 118 bound the owners to pay the contractor.
Decisão extraída
No binding approval arose on the facts found; an interpretation leading to such authority would contradict the parties' actual understanding.
Fundamentação extraída
The lower court found, based on the contractor's litigation conduct, that the contractor itself had not understood the approval clause as conferring binding authority. In that situation, contractual interpretation under the trust principle could not create a consensual meaning neither party actually intended. The complaint about the unusualness rule and Art. 8 ZGB failed.