Time is of the essence construction contract

1 TIME OF ESSENCE IN CONSTRUCTION. CHAPTER ONE 1.1Background study. It is often said that for a building or construction project, there are three objectives which the owner of the project is aiming1. These are, in no order of priority or importance, cost, quality and time2. 1 Eggleston B. (1997), Liquidated Damages And Extensions Of Time In Construction Contracts, 2nd edition. London: Wiley-Blackwell.2Ibid n.1
2 Time is an important part in construction contract. There are provisions in construction contracts, for example, that the contractor must complete the project3, that the engineer or the architect or the s.o. must furnish the necessary drawings and information to the contractor, and that the employer must pay the Contractor, all before a certain date. All these provisions carry with them their respective legal implications and consequences. The main obligation of the contractor is to complete the project within certain time or date and the contractual consequences which may follow if he does not. Clause 21.1 of PAM stipulated that the contractor must complete the work. ... complete the same on or before the Date for Completion stated in the Appendix... clause 38(b) of PWD 203A which states: ... complete the Works on or before the Date of Completion as stated in the Appendix... and clause 23.1 of JCT 98, which states: ... regularly and diligently proceed with the same and shall complete the same on or before the Completion Date... Contracts of all kinds commonly specify dates for the performances of some obligations (Wallace, 1995). In building contracts, stipulations as to the time to delivery of the completed building become an essential condition of the agreement (Guest, 1975). It is usual to state the date by which completion is required, as can be seen in Clause 39 of PWD 203A. Even where no precise date has been included in the contract itself, a court may be persuaded to imply a term for completion by a certain date, on the ground that the parties must have intended this, as seen in Bruno Zornow (Builders) Ltd v Beechcroft Developments Ltd. The contractor’s obligation 3 Oon Chee Khen (2003), Extension Of Time And Liquidated Damages In Construction Contracts.