A builder contracted to renovate a house for a total price of $520,000 with a strict time limit in which to complete the work. 

Can the builder claim payment where the builder did some of the work, worth $200,000, but then abandoned the contract?                    

1. The builder started the work but during early excavation discovered some bones. The police were called and they closed off the site for forensic examination. As they were human bones and only a partial skeleton, the police keep the site closed for many months, in fact for the duration of the building contract. The builder is now in breach of the time clause. Can the builder argue the contract was terminated (frustrated) and he was not in breach?