FIDIC Force Majeure Clause: The 14-Day Notice Rule Explained
A landslide takes out the only access road to Site. A curfew is imposed after civil unrest breaks out in the region. A Contractor who has spent months mastering the 28-day rhythm of ordinary FIDIC notices reaches for the same template — and misses the deadline anyway, because this clause does not run on 28 days. It runs on 14.
What FIDIC Force Majeure Actually Covers
Under the FIDIC 1999 Red Book, Clause 19 is headed "Force Majeure." The FIDIC 2017 Second Edition dropped that label and replaced it with Clause 18, "Exceptional Event." The rename was deliberate — force majeure is a civil-law concept that does not map cleanly onto common-law jurisdictions, so FIDIC's drafters spelled out the test directly instead of relying on a borrowed term. The substance of the clause, however, carried across largely intact.
To qualify, an event must clear four hurdles at once: it must be beyond the affected Party's control; it could not reasonably have been provided against before the Contract was signed; once it arose, it could not reasonably have been avoided or overcome; and it must not be substantially attributable to the other Party. All four have to hold. An event that is merely inconvenient, or that a well-run contractor should have planned around, does not qualify no matter how disruptive it feels on Site.
The clause then lists example categories: war and hostilities; rebellion, terrorism, revolution, insurrection, or civil war; riot and civil commotion by persons other than the Contractor's own personnel; munitions of war, explosive materials, or contamination by radioactivity; and natural catastrophes such as earthquake, hurricane, typhoon, or volcanic activity. Both editions keep this structure — five categories, the same underlying logic, different clause numbers.
Key Takeaway: "Force Majeure" (FIDIC 1999, Clause 19) and "Exceptional Event" (FIDIC 2017, Clause 18) are the same clause under two different names. Both demand an event that is genuinely beyond the Contractor's control, unforeseeable at tender, unavoidable once it hits, and not the other Party's fault.
The 14-Day Notice — Why It Breaks the Usual Rhythm
Most FIDIC notices run on a 28-day clock from awareness. Weather delay, unforeseen physical conditions, late access to Site, delayed drawings — all 28 days. Contractors get used to that rhythm, and that is exactly what makes the force majeure clock dangerous: it is half as long.
Sub-Clause 19.2 of the 1999 Red Book, and its direct equivalent Sub-Clause 18.2 of the 2017 Second Edition, require the affected Party to give notice within 14 days after it became aware, or should have become aware, of the event. The notice must identify the event or circumstance and state which of the Party's obligations are, or will be, prevented by it. Miss the 14 days and the clause's protection can be lost even though the underlying event was real and severe.
There is a second layer worth knowing. The entitlement to an extension of time and Cost under the force majeure provision is expressed as being subject to Sub-Clause 20.1, the Contract's general claims machinery. In practice, that means a prudent Contractor treats the 14-day force majeure notice as the first, fastest alarm — and also keeps the ordinary 20.1 claim notice on its own separate clock, since the two obligations run in parallel rather than one substituting for the other.
Key Takeaway: The force majeure notice is due in 14 days, not the usual 28. It runs alongside the general Sub-Clause 20.1 claims notice, not instead of it — serve both, on their own clocks, rather than assuming one covers the other.
What Qualifies — and What Doesn't
The test is narrow by design, and the most common mistake is stretching it to cover events that belong under a different clause entirely. A hard rainy season, a heatwave that slows concrete pours, or a supplier running late are not force majeure — they are ordinary project risk, or they fall under Sub-Clause 8.4(c) weather delay, which has its own lower, more specific bar of "exceptionally adverse climatic conditions" for the site and time of year.
Unforeseen ground conditions are a similar near-miss. A rock layer nobody expected, or groundwater at an unusual level, sits under Sub-Clause 4.12, not force majeure — the test there is about what an experienced contractor could have foreseen from the tender data, not about war, radiation, or a natural catastrophe. Confusing the two grounds means citing the wrong clause, and a notice that names the wrong clause invites a challenge before the substance is even considered.
Genuine force majeure tends to announce itself: a government-imposed curfew, an armed conflict spilling into the project region, a radioactive contamination event, or an earthquake that halts the Works outright. If the honest answer to "could a well-prepared contractor have priced for this at tender?" is yes, the event almost certainly belongs somewhere else in the contract.
Key Takeaway: Ordinary bad weather goes under Sub-Clause 8.4(c); unexpected ground conditions go under Sub-Clause 4.12. Force majeure is reserved for the genuinely extreme — war, civil unrest, radioactive contamination, natural catastrophe — not a difficult season or a stretch of bad luck.
Time Only, or Time and Cost? It Depends on the Category
Force majeure does not treat every qualifying event the same way, and this distinction is easy to miss. If notice has been properly given and the event delays completion, the Contractor is entitled to an extension of time regardless of which category the event falls into.
Cost is different. War, hostilities, rebellion, terrorism, riot, and contamination by radioactivity or munitions of war can support a Cost claim as well as time. Natural catastrophes — earthquake, hurricane, typhoon, volcanic activity — support time only, not Cost. The logic is that an act of nature is nobody's doing, while the other categories involve human conflict or contamination that a Cost remedy is meant to address. Getting this wrong in a notice — asking for Cost after an earthquake, for instance — signals to the Engineer that the drafter has not read the clause closely.
Key Takeaway: An extension of time is available for any qualifying force majeure event. Cost is only available for war, terrorism, riot, and radiation-type events — not for natural catastrophes like earthquakes or hurricanes, which are time-only.
Common Mistakes That Undermine a Force Majeure Notice
Most force majeure notices that get challenged fail for a small set of avoidable reasons:
- Applying the 28-day habit. The single most common error — treating this like every other FIDIC notice and serving it on day 20, well past the 14-day cutoff.
- Citing force majeure for an ordinary delay. Weather and unforeseen ground conditions have their own clauses; reaching for force majeure instead weakens the notice's credibility.
- Claiming Cost for a natural catastrophe. Only the human-conflict categories support Cost — asking for it after an earthquake or storm invites an easy rejection.
- Serving only the force majeure notice. Because the entitlement is subject to Sub-Clause 20.1, skipping the parallel general claims notice can leave the Cost element unprotected even if the 14-day notice was on time.
- Vague description of prevention. The notice must state which specific obligations are or will be prevented by the event — a general statement that "the Works are affected" is not enough.
Key Takeaway: The clause is unforgiving on timing and precision. Get the 14-day notice out, name the specific obligations prevented, and serve the parallel 20.1 claims notice too — do not rely on the force majeure notice alone.
When Force Majeure Drags On: The Termination Threshold
Force majeure events sometimes do not resolve in days or weeks — they run for months. FIDIC builds in a release valve for that scenario. Under Sub-Clause 19.6 of the 1999 Red Book, and the equivalent provision in the 2017 Second Edition, either Party may terminate the Contract if the force majeure event prevents execution of substantially all of the Works in progress for a continuous period of 84 days, or for multiple periods totaling more than 140 days arising from the same notified event.
That is a high bar — it requires substantially all of the Works in progress to be stopped, not just one activity or one part of the Site. Termination takes effect seven days after the termination notice is given, and the Contractor remains entitled to be paid for work already executed, for Plant and Materials ordered and delivered or in transit, and for other costs reasonably incurred as a result. This is a last-resort mechanism, not something either Party reaches for lightly, but it matters for the rare project where the exceptional event genuinely does not end.
Key Takeaway: If force majeure stops substantially all of the Works for 84 continuous days, or more than 140 days in total, either Party can terminate. It takes effect seven days after notice, with payment protection for work already done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is FIDIC force majeure the same thing as an exceptional event?
Yes. "Force Majeure" is the term used in the FIDIC 1999 Red Book (Clause 19). The FIDIC 2017 Second Edition renamed the same concept "Exceptional Event" (Clause 18) because force majeure is a civil-law term that does not translate cleanly into common-law jurisdictions. The definition, the 14-day notice, and the entitlement structure carry across largely unchanged — only the label and clause number moved.
How many days does the Contractor have to give a force majeure notice?
14 days from when the Contractor became aware, or should have become aware, of the event — under both Sub-Clause 19.2 (FIDIC 1999) and Sub-Clause 18.2 (FIDIC 2017). That is half the 28-day period most other FIDIC notices allow, so it is the deadline contractors are most likely to miss by applying the wrong clock.
Does force majeure entitle the Contractor to money, or only time?
It depends on the category of event. War, hostilities, rebellion, terrorism, riot, and contamination by radioactivity or munitions of war can support both an extension of time and Cost. Natural catastrophes — earthquake, hurricane, typhoon, volcanic activity — support an extension of time only, not Cost. The clause treats an act of nature differently from an act of people.
Can ordinary bad weather qualify as force majeure under FIDIC?
No. Heavy rain, high winds, or a hot summer are dealt with under the separate weather-delay ground, Sub-Clause 8.4(c) — exceptionally adverse climatic conditions specific to the site and unforeseeable at tender stage. Force majeure is reserved for a narrower and more extreme category: war, civil unrest, radioactive contamination, and genuine natural catastrophes. A difficult season of weather almost never clears that bar.
What happens if the force majeure event lasts for months?
Under FIDIC 1999 Sub-Clause 19.6 and the equivalent 2017 provision, either party may terminate the contract if force majeure prevents execution of substantially all of the Works in progress for a continuous period of 84 days, or for multiple periods totaling more than 140 days arising from the same notified event. Termination takes effect 7 days after the termination notice is given.
Authoritative Sources
This guide reflects the FIDIC Conditions of Contract and established construction-law authority. For the primary materials, see:
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract — the official contract suite published by the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, which sets out the Force Majeure / Exceptional Event provisions in Clause 19 (1999) and Clause 18 (2017).
- FIDIC, Force Majeure, Exceptional Events and the "But For" Test — Fenwick Elliott's analysis of how the 1999 and 2017 provisions compare and how causation is tested in practice.
About the Author
Muhammad M. Jiwani is a Project Director with 15 years' experience on major infrastructure and energy projects administered under FIDIC contracts. He writes from first-hand experience serving notices and managing contractual claims on live projects.