Construction Contracts Force Majeure In Texas
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The Act of God Defense, sometimes called an “Act of God Criminal Defense” or “God Defense,” is based on the idea that natural disasters and other uncontrollable events can remove or lessen liability. These “acts of God” include natural events like lightning strikes, heavy rain, and other severe weather events.
Many contracts include a "force majeure" or "act of God" clause. A force majeure clause is a part of a contract that says if something unexpected happens, one or both parties may be excused from doing what the contract says they should do.
There are generally three essential elements to force majeure: • tt can occur with or without human intervention • it cannot have reasonably been foreseen by the parties • It was completely beyond the parties' control and they could not have prevented its consequences.
Commonly referred to as “acts of God”, force majeure events are unforeseeable, exceptional or out with the control of contracting parties. Examples include natural disaster, terrorism, industrial strike action, fire and pandemic/epidemic events such as Covid-19.
Related Content. Force majeure events are usually defined as certain acts, events or circumstances beyond the control of the parties, for example, natural disasters or the outbreak of hostilities.
For events to constitute the use of force majeure, they must be unforeseeable, external to contract parties, and unavoidable. Force majeure means “greater force” and is related to an act of God, an event for which no party can be held accountable.
If a contract is silent on force majeure or if the event does not meet the definition of force majeure under the parties' contract, a party's performance may still be excused in certain circumstances under the doctrine of commercial impracticability.
Either Party shall be excused from performance and shall not be in default in respect of any obligation hereunder to the extent that the failure to perform such obligation is due to a Natural Force Majeure Event.
A typical force majeure clause includes a statement that the occurrence of certain events or circumstances will excuse performance; a listing of the events or circumstances; and a listing of obligations imposed on the party claiming to be excused that typically relate to keeping the other party informed about the force ...
Invoking Force Majeure For events to constitute the use of force majeure, they must be unforeseeable, external to contract parties, and unavoidable. Force majeure means “greater force” and is related to an act of God, an event for which no party can be held accountable.
