Force majeure: Covid and the construction industry

Authors

Joshua Randall

Document Type

Graduate Article

Abstract

The Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) has raised questions surrounding the application of force majeure in the construction industry, the like of which have not been asked since the Second World War. This article attempts to decipher how the courts will answer these questions, in the face of massively underrepresented case law within the specific context of standard building forms, such as JCT agreements. This leads to the conclusion that while a legally sound application of the doctrine is available, it is likely to lead to a morally unsavoury conclusion. Furthermore, the reasons for this are explored in conjunction with the ways in which such a situation can be avoided in the future.

Publication Date

2021-01-01

Publication Title

The Plymouth Law Review

Volume

14

Issue

1

First Page

155

Last Page

181

Recommended Citation

Randall, Joshua (2021) "Force majeure: Covid and the construction industry," Plymouth Law Review: Vol. 14, Article 5.
Available at: https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/plr/vol14/iss1/5