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ARTICLE · 09 JULY 2026

We Won’t Permit That Excuse!

Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
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Peckar & Abramson, P.C.

Peckar & Abramson, P.C.

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A Texas appellate court's recent ruling on building permits as conditions precedent offers crucial insights for construction contract drafting. The decision highlights the critical distinction between contractual promises and conditions precedent, demonstrating how ambiguous language can lead to unexpected legal outcomes and why contractors must carefully specify owner obligations like site access, permits, and specifications as conditions precedent to protect their interests.

United StatesReal Estate and Construction
Curtis W. Martin
Curtis W. Martin
Richard D. Eiszner
Richard D. Eiszner

This article was written for ConsensusDocs and first appeared here.

A Texas appellate court recently ruled that a building permit wasn’t a condition precedent for a construction project. That caught our attention. Can you build a commercial project without a permit?

But as we read the case, we see the court’s reasoning. And it reminds us of an important legal principle that should inform our contract drafting and negotiation.

The case was a civil suit brought by the project owner against its tenant improvement contractor for work on a medical spa. The owner claimed that the contractor didn’t perform the work properly and didn’t finish construction. The contractor argued that delays and problems were caused by the owner, alleging numerous failures, including the owner’s failure to secure a building permit.

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