How do I activate a force majeure provision?

There is no judicially accepted definition of the Term ‘Force majeure’, so what the parties mean by it must be expressly set out in the Contract (ie just referring to ‘force majeure’ doesn’t work) and any specific Requirements relating to the procedural aspects of invoking a force majeure clause should be followed by the relevant parties.

Force majeure provisions often state that, upon the occurrence of a specified event which is outside of a party’s reasonable control, that party will be excused from performing part or all of its specific obligations under the contract (and at some later point, maybe have a right to terminate the contract) and will not be liable for failing to perform those obligations.

If a party wishes to trigger a force majeure clause, consider the following: