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"No Damage" Clauses In Construction Contracts: A Critique, Douglas S. Oles

Washington Law Review

This comment concludes that "no damage" clauses should not be enforced because they are generally imposed without genuine bargaining and they tend to work oppressive results on a contractor by subjecting it to a risk of substantial and unforeseeable liability for damages arising from delays attributable to the owner. An analogy to the law of liquidated damages provides a useful illustration of the type of inequity which is promoted by enforcing "no damage" provisions, as well as a doctrinal basis for holding such clauses invalid.