Force Majeure - Checklist and Sample Wording
Certain events, beyond the control of the PPP parties, may inhibit the parties from fulfilling their duties and obligations under the project agreements.
To avoid the resultant breach of contract, parties may prefer to excuse contractual obligations to the extent that they have been so inhibited.
Different legal systems have developed different theories in response to this need, including the doctrines of impossibility and frustration in England and the United States and force majeure in France. Under French law force majeure is an event that is unforeseeable, unavoidable and external that makes execution impossible.
In order to avoid the uncertainties and delays involved in relying on the applicable law, parties to contracts often prefer to provide for a specific regime for force majeure, along with a definition of which events shall qualify for special treatment.
The term force majeure used in drafting project documents comes originally from the Code Napoléon of France, but should not be confused with the French doctrine. Generally, force majeure means what the contract says it mea
