In the engineering industry, purchase orders generally contain the 'Force Majeure' clause. An engineer, I had never taken the effort till now to read all the commercial clauses that came with a purchase order; that is generally left to the procurement department to take care of. I had a little time on my hands the other day. I found these delightful words under the Force Majeure clause:
Delivery of equipment is subject to force majeure, by which it means
causes such as Acts of God, Acts of Government, war, invasion, civil
disobedience, government orders or restrictions, strikes, lock-outs,
riots, fires, epidemics, sabotages, accidents, floods, fire,
earthquake, breakdown of machinery or any other causes whatsoever
beyond our reasonable control, affecting us, our subcontractors,
suppliers etc.
Firstly, I just love the order of unexpected contingencies.
Secondly, I am impressed by how they have tried to cover all their bases. Heck, they even guard against wanton whimsical tendencies of the almighty. That takes the cake.
Thirdly, how does one verify that a shipment has been stopped by an 'Act of God'?
Fourthly, if you do believe in Acts of God, that list is not mutually exclusive. Then again, if you did believe in God, you'd have stopped with Acts of God.
Finally, they have missed out a significant contingency in that list. Abduction by Extra-Terrestrials.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
