Newsletter
SARS AS FORCE MAJEURE EVENT UNDER PUBLIC CON-STRUCTION CONTRACTS?
On 7 May 2003, the Public Construction Com-mission (PCC) issued a press release stating that if any work under a public construction contract was delayed because the construction site was subject to disease control measures, or because contractor's personnel were unable to work due to mandatory quarantine, the contractor and procuring agency may negotiate to extend con-tractual completion period. Section 17 of the Model Works Procurement Contract published by the PCC also lists "epidemic disease" as a force majeure event.
However, the above press release only indicated the situations that construction sites were subject to disease control measures or because contrac-tors' personnel were unable to work due to man-datory quarantine. Whether SARS may consti-tute a force majeure event under situations other than the above remains questionable.
Also, an announcement issued by the Intellectual Property Office on 13 June 2003 stated that if patent or trademark applicants or their repre-sentatives exceed statutory time limits due to being quarantined at home under SARS con-tainment measures, they may apply for rein-statement of the previous state of affairs under the relevant provisions of the Patent Law or Copyright Law. In order to uphold applicants’ interests, the IPO would give parties the benefit of the doubt when grounds beyond parties’ con-trol were asserted, according to the specific cir-cumstances of individual cases.