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ARTICLE · 29 JANUARY 2026

Force Majeure & Impossibility: What Construction Leaders Need

Duane Morris LLP
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Discourse surrounding force majeure clauses skyrocketed in the wake of COVID-19. Parties to contracts were confronted with the uncertainty of promising future performance when the future was far from certain.

United StatesReal Estate and Construction
Benton Wheatley, P.C.
Benton Wheatley, P.C.
Anna Spicer
Anna Spicer
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Discourse surrounding force majeure clauses skyrocketed in the wake of COVID-19. Parties to contracts were confronted with the uncertainty of promising future performance when the future was far from certain. In particular, construction contracts felt the impact of this uncertainty through price escalations, tariffs, material scarcity, price gouging, supply chain issues, labor shortages, and myriad other problems.

Construction executives must recognize how future uncertainties can affect their business in order to move into the future equipped with knowledge to address critical problems from a position of understanding. Uncertainty is mitigated by recognizing the contractual mechanisms specifically designed to address it, such as force majeure clauses and the law of impossibility.

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Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.

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