Q: Does delay make a construction contract voidable ?

Ans: Section 55 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 says that when a party to a contract promises to do a certain thing at or before a specified or stipulated time, or certain things at or before specified times, and fails to do any such thing at or before the specified time, the contract, or so much of it as has not been performed, becomes voidable at the option of the promisee, provided the intention of the parties was that time should be of the essence of the contract. Thus the question, in the context of construction contracts, narrows down to whether time is generally intended by the parties to be of essence.
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