{"id":900537,"date":"2022-11-02T14:37:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T20:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=900537"},"modified":"2022-11-01T14:41:50","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T20:41:50","slug":"time-is-of-the-essence-or-is-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/time-is-of-the-essence-or-is-it\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTime is of the Essence\u201d \u2013 or is it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Alayna Bridgett and Sonja Rice | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hahnlaw.com\/insights\/time-is-of-the-essence-or-is-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Hahn Loeser &amp; Parks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems that almost every construction contract contains a clause proclaiming that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/time-limits-clause\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">time is of the essence<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 But what exactly does that clause mean?\u00a0 And why is it important?\u00a0 Or\u00a0<em>is it<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The phrase \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d means that timely performance is an essential obligation under a contract, and thus failure to perform in a timely manner amounts to a material breach of contract giving rise to the other party\u2019s right to exercise its remedies for breach. Under Ohio law, these remedies for material breach of contract may include being relieved from performance of one\u2019s contractual obligations, terminating the contract, and seeking damages for completion of the breaching party\u2019s obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why is it important to specify that time is \u201cof the essence?\u201d Because under Ohio law, unless a contract specifies this, the time of performance specified in a contract is generally&nbsp;<em><u>not<\/u><\/em>&nbsp;of the essence. Rather, a project schedule in a construction contract is a sort of guideline, and a party\u2019s failure to perform in accordance with the schedule does not deprive the other party of an essential element of the contractual bargain. Thus, unless a contract specifies that \u201ctime is of the essence,\u201d Ohio courts typically find that the failure to perform in strict accordance with a project schedule specified in a contract does&nbsp;<em><u>not<\/u><\/em>&nbsp;amount to a material breach and does&nbsp;<em><u>not<\/u><\/em>&nbsp;allow the other party to exercise remedies for breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There are exceptions to this, however.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some Ohio courts have found that, even in the absence of a \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d clause, an&nbsp;<em>unreasonable<\/em>&nbsp;delay still constitutes a material breach that entitles the other party to relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, even if a contract does not contain a \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d clause, the nature of the contract or the circumstances under which it is negotiated might show that the parties&nbsp;<em>intended<\/em>&nbsp;for time to be of the essence. As such, even if a contract does not contain a \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d clause, a party might still be entitled to relief if the other party fails to perform in accordance with a construction schedule. Unfortunately, Ohio courts have not yet provided guidance about what sorts of circumstances or what types of contracts might give rise to this inference that the parties intended for time to be of the essence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What does this all mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For owners, the best practice is to include a \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d clause in your construction contracts. Having this clause in the contract will ensure that you can exercise all contractual remedies available for a material breach, which might include recovery of breach-related damages and termination of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For contractors and subcontractors, be aware that the absence of a \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d clause does not necessarily provide relief from an owner\u2019s remedies for breach of contract. If a delay in performance is \u201cunreasonable,\u201d or if other circumstances suggest that the parties intended for time to be of the essence, the owner (or prime contractor) might nonetheless be able to exercise its contractual right to terminate the contract or exercise its other remedies for a material breach of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Bottom line<\/em>:\u00a0 time might be of the essence even if a contract doesn\u2019t say so, but if you want to be certain, just say it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alayna Bridgett and Sonja Rice | Hahn Loeser &amp; Parks It seems that almost every construction contract contains a clause proclaiming that \u201ctime is of the essence.\u201d\u00a0 But what exactly does that clause mean?\u00a0 And why is it important?\u00a0 Or\u00a0is it? The phrase \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d means that timely performance is an essential&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/time-is-of-the-essence-or-is-it\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\u201cTime is of the Essence\u201d \u2013 or is it?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[9895,224,11306],"class_list":["post-900537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-contract","tag-time-is-of-the-essence-provision","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cTime is of the Essence\u201d \u2013 or is it? 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