How late is too late?

摘要

All of us live and work under constant time pressure. The lawyer's nightmare is missing a deadline imposed by the limitation acts so his client's claim is lost forever, however meritorious it may have been. The standard forms of building contract are full of clauses requiring the parties (and the architect) to do things within time limits - information release, compliance with instructions, issuing of certificates, payment and so on. When a project gets to the stage of settling the final account, the parties are meant to comply with a timetable that culminates in the issuing of a final certificate. But what happens if that certificate is not issued when it should be? If it is issued months, or even years, out of time? Does that mean it is invalid?