Can bad weather constitute "force majeure" for overdue delivery?

According to Article 1 17 of China's Contract Law: "If the contract cannot be performed due to force majeure, it shall be exempted from liability in part or in whole according to the influence of force majeure.

Except as otherwise provided by law.

If force majeure occurs after the delay in performance, the parties concerned cannot be exempted from their responsibilities. Force majeure as mentioned in this Law refers to unforeseeable, unavoidable and insurmountable objective circumstances. Article 1 18 stipulates: "If one party fails to perform the contract due to force majeure, it shall notify the other party in time to reduce the possible losses to the other party, and shall provide proof within a reasonable time.

. Article 30 of the Measures for the Administration of Commercial Housing Sales issued by the Ministry of Construction stipulates: "If the delivery needs to be delayed due to force majeure or other reasons agreed by the parties to the contract,

Real estate development enterprises

The Buyer shall be informed in time. "So, how to understand the exemption caused by force majeure? According to the above-mentioned laws and regulations, if a developer wants to be exempted from liability for force majeure, he must meet the following conditions at the same time: First, an unforeseeable, unavoidable and insurmountable objective event must have occurred; 2. The fact of force majeure exemption must occur after both parties sign the contract; Third, the developer must promptly notify the buyers of force majeure and issue a certificate. In this case, weather factors do have a serious impact on the construction progress, but rain and snow are normal weather phenomena.

As a developer, before housing development, we should reasonably predict the construction period according to the local annual average weather conditions and the forecast of future weather conditions by the meteorological department to ensure timely completion. Therefore, rainy days do not constitute the cause of force majeure. At the same time, in the current real estate transaction, developers often encounter major difficulties in the construction process and cannot solve them; Leaders at all levels conduct inspections and visits; The reasons such as the delay of municipal supporting construction are taken as the exemption clauses of force majeure.

. In fact, these contents belong to the matters that developers should consider in development and construction, and are the risks that developers should bear in the process of real estate development. These circumstances cannot constitute an exemption from force majeure. (Lawyer Ma Lihong of Anhui Xinzhou Law Firm)