Force majeure clauses – a ‘Day Zero’ respite

By Caleb Jones on March 6, 2018 Posted in General

Property developers are not immune to the water restrictions being imposed by the City of Cape Town and, in terms of the recently published Level 6 water restrictions, have had to reduce their monthly consumption of municipal drinking water by 45% from 1 February 2018. With day zero looming, contractors need to be aware of … Continue reading

Election not to repudiate a contract may be changed for persistent default

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on June 12, 2017 Posted in General

Where one party repudiates a contract, the innocent party who elects to enforce performance can change that election and cancel the contract if the defaulting party persists in the breach by continuing to show an unequivocal intention not to remedy the breach or perform the contract. The plaintiff construction company in Primat Construction v Nelson … Continue reading

Does the principle of pay now, argue later apply to an adjudicator’s decision given out of time?

By Keshri Chetty on December 14, 2016 Posted in Drafting tips

When adjudication is incorporated into contracts, often construction contracts, as a means of dispute resolution it is usually included with other mechanisms such as mediation, arbitration and possibly even an approach to a court so that a party dissatisfied with an adjudicator’s award can attempt to rectify what is considered wrong with it in a … Continue reading