The Law Offices of Paul H. Appel – Your Trusted Business Law Partner in New Jersey
Monmouth County · New Jersey
For bayshore contractors, trades and small suppliers, the expensive legal problems often start when something outside anyone's control delays the work. Paul H. Appel drafts and reviews the contracts that decide who bears that risk.
On Raritan Bay
Union Beach is a small Monmouth County borough on Raritan Bay in the county's Bayshore area, neighboring Keyport and Hazlet.
Its businesses are mostly small and locally owned: contractors and home-improvement trades, marine and auto services, food businesses and companies that supply or install for customers around the Bayshore and beyond. Being on the water also means owners here understand, better than most, that storms and outages can stop work at short notice.
That is why continuity matters in Union Beach contracts. When an expected step cannot happen — materials do not arrive, a site is inaccessible, a subcontractor disappears — the contract's wording on delay and notice decides whether the business is in breach or protected. Clients work with the firm by phone, video and email, and meet Paul in Freehold by appointment.
Continuity clauses
Excuse
Lists events, such as severe weather, utility failure or government orders, that excuse or suspend performance. Whether it helps depends on the exact events named and any requirement to mitigate. A vague clause offers little protection; the wider construction law practice page covers related contractor issues.
Time
For contractors, a clause allowing schedule extensions for causes beyond your control, with a defined written notice process, is often more useful than a general force majeure term.
Substitutes
Whether you may use substitute materials, suppliers or crews without breaching specifications, and who approves the change.
Exit
When either side may pause or end the contract after a prolonged interruption, and how completed work and deposits are settled.
Services
Written contracts that satisfy New Jersey's home improvement rules for residential work, with clear scope, change orders and payment schedules. Registration and contract-content requirements apply to many residential contractors.
Construction contractsPayment demands, negotiated settlements and, where available, construction lien claims, which carry strict deadlines measured from the last date of work.
Lien lawPurchase terms that set delivery dates, remedies for late or short shipments and the right to source elsewhere, so one vendor's failure does not stall every job.
Supplier contractsWhen work stops
Many contracts require written notice of a delay within a short period. Missing it can forfeit the protection.
Describe the cause, the expected impact and what you are doing to minimize it, and keep a copy.
Photographs, supplier correspondence and timesheets support any later claim for extra time or money.
Confirm a new schedule or price in a signed change order rather than by phone. If payment is then refused, the firm's guide to payment dispute resolution sets out the options.
Questions
It depends on the wording. If the contract has a force majeure or delay clause that covers severe weather, you may be entitled to extra time, though usually not extra money, provided you gave the required notice. Without such a clause, the outcome is less certain and may turn on general contract principles, so it is worth checking before the next storm season.
For most residential home improvement work in New Jersey, yes. State rules require registration and a written contract containing specified information, and violations can raise consumer-fraud issues. Using a reviewed standard contract for every residential job is one of the simplest protections a trades business can have.
Avoid promising customers fixed delivery dates that depend entirely on one vendor, include a delay clause in your own sales terms, and negotiate remedies and a right to source elsewhere in your purchase terms. The Monmouth County business law overview describes the other ways the firm supports owners in the county.
Nearby
Your attorney
Every matter at the firm is handled personally by Paul — the same attorney reads the documents, gives the advice and negotiates on your behalf.
Contact
Describe what the business is dealing with — a contract on your desk, a deal in progress, a dispute or a company you are about to form. You will hear back from the attorney who handles the work.
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