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A magic incantation that one puts into a contract to designate that, whatever else might go down, a party's failure to comply with obligations within the stated timeframe is a fundamental breach justifying termination of contract, a plague upon your houses, apocalyptic horsemen on the ridge and so on.
Now at common law, time is — was — always of the essence. When any time is specified for the completion of an action, one party has an action if the other doesn’t performed by that time[1].
But as always, the dear old courts of chancery have to have their say. In equity, time is only fundamental to a contract if:
- Time is expressed to be “of the essence”;
- Otherwise the circumstances indicate the time limit must be complied with exactly;
- Where neither of the above applies, but one party has been unduly delaysome, the other can give notice requiring the contract to be performed within a reasonable time, therefore making time of the essence.
Thanks to the Law of Property Act 1925, Section 41, the rules at equity now apply in contract as well. Eheu.
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