ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the law relating to three of the most difficult areas in contracts - areas where argument and dispute are always likely. Lateness is a serious risk for both parties. There are three, and only three, possible contractual situations allowed by the UK law of contract in regard to the delivery dates in a contract: time 'of the essence', estimated delivery date, liquidated damages for late delivery. Specifications are regularly badly written by purchasers and misinterpreted by contractors. There is a lot of law about the liability of a seller for defects in the goods that he has supplied. Most of this law is consumer protection law. Some applies to commercial contracts as well. The difference between liability for site accidents, in legal terms, is that defects liability can be established either under contract or in negligence, whereas site accident liability is almost always dealt with under negligence law.
