A locatio is a hiring. The two great subdivisions of the locatio are the locatio rei and the locatio operis. The former kind of bailment is the hiring of the thing itself. In such a bailment the collateral consideration moves from the bailee to the bailor, as a rent for the use of the thing bailed, and the consideration on the part of the bailor is the letting of the use of the article.

In the second kind of locatio bailments the collateral consideration moves from the bailor to the bailee, and the consideration on the part of the bailee is the doing of some act in relation to the subject matter of the bailment.

'The essentials of every locatio operis bailment are (a) services to be performed upon the chattel; (b) a contract for such services, and (c) a price or reward. It is the services about the chattel and the compensation to the bailee that are distinctive of this bailment and mark it off from all the others. The contract for services as a contract does not differ from contracts in general."2

1 Gray vs. Merriam, 143 I11., 179; 35 N. E.,810; 39 Am. St. Rep., 172; 22 L. R. A., 769; Chase vs. Boody, 55 N. H., 574; Jones vs. Morgan, 90 N. Y., 4; 43 Am. Rep., 131.

The bailee in this class of bailments is always entitled to compensation for the work he has done. If the work is completed according to the terms of the contract, the bailee can recover the amount fixed by the contract. If the work is completed, but not according to the terms of the contract, the bailee may recover on a quantum meruit. If the deviation from the terms of the contract was with the consent of the bailor, occasioned by his fault, the bailee can recover the reasonable worth of his services. If the breach of the terms of the contract was the fault of the bailee himself, the bailor can recoup any damages he has sustained by the breach of the contract.

The question as to the right of recovery of a bailee on a contract only partially completed presents some difficulties. At present, if the property is destroyed, before the completion of the work, without the fault of either party, the bailee will generally be allowed to recover pro tanteo for the labor and work which he has already expended on the thing. Under the old common law rule that there could be no recovery, where the contract was an entire one and the workman, for any cause, left the work incomplete. The present tendency of the law is to modify this rule, and to construe contracts for services as divisible ones. The cases on this point, however, are at present in hopeless confusion.

If the completion of the work is prevented by the fault of the bailor, the bailee may recover quantum meruit3 for the value of the services rendered and also for any losses caused by the fault of the bailor. If the bailee abandons the work, some cases allow him to recover the value of his services, less the loss to the bailor.4 Other cases deny any right of recovery in such cases.5

2 Goddard on Bailments, Sec. 127. 3 For meaning of the terms quantum meruit and recoup, see subject of Common Law Pleading, Volume XI, Subject 34.