Due to the epidemic situation, developers do not need compensation for delaying delivery. If the epidemic prevention and control measures such as personnel flow control in various places and the government's request to postpone the resumption of work lead to the shortage of construction manpower and delay in the construction period, or the equipment and materials needed for the project cannot be transported to the construction site on time due to traffic control and disinfection measures, based on the unforeseeable, inevitable and insurmountable nature of the epidemic situation in COVID-19 and the prevention and control measures, the exemption clause of force majeure should also be applied.

Legal analysis

If it cannot be delivered on time due to the epidemic situation, the developer may be exempted from liability within the corresponding delay period. However, the developer should fulfill the obligation of informing according to law to reduce the loss of the owner. If the loss increases due to his failure to inform the buyer in time, the buyer can claim compensation. If the developer fails to deliver the goods on time due to the epidemic situation, it should provide relevant evidence that affects the delivery, such as relevant documents issued by the government to delay the resumption of work, notice of suspension of work of the enterprise, relevant hospital certificates that the construction workers were isolated due to confirmed or suspected pneumonia, and certificates that the supplier failed to deliver the goods on time. Also, the delay in delivery must be reasonable and need to be considered according to the actual situation. It cannot be said that it is unreasonable to delay the resumption of work for one month and the delivery for one year. The purchase contract will generally stipulate the compensation for the developer's delay in delivery. However, the "late delivery responsibility" in the contract has an exemption clause, that is, "force majeure". Obviously, this epidemic is force majeure. Therefore, developers do not have to bear the liability for breach of contract.

legal ground

People's Republic of China (PRC) Civil Code

Article 180 A person who is unable to perform his civil obligations due to force majeure shall not bear civil liability. Where there are other provisions in the law, those provisions shall prevail. Force majeure is an unforeseeable, unavoidable and insurmountable objective situation.

Article 590 Where the parties are unable to perform the contract due to force majeure, they shall be exempted from liability in part or in whole according to the influence of force majeure, except as otherwise provided by law. If the contract cannot be performed due to force majeure, the other party shall be informed in time to reduce the possible losses to the other party and provide proof within a reasonable time. If force majeure occurs after the delay in performance, the parties concerned shall not be exempted from the liability for breach of contract.