Acts of God Clauses for Roofers - Hurricane Delay Guide

A roofer is not protected by the words "Act of God" alone.

The protection comes from the five sentences after them.

Here is the common storm-season scenario this clause is built for. The job is simple on paper: remove the old shingles, replace damaged decking discovered during tear-off, install the new roof system, pass final inspection, collect the balance. Then a named storm enters the forecast. The supplier closes early. The county announces evacuation routes. The homeowner wants the roof finished anyway because family is visiting the next week. The crew can either rush an unsafe open-roof job, walk off and get blamed for delay, or point to the contract.

The contract said severe weather, flood, named storm, evacuation order, utility interruption, supplier shutdown, and government order gave the contractor a documented time extension. It required prompt written notice, photos, supplier backup, and a revised work schedule. It also said the contractor would secure the site, protect work in place, and restart as soon as conditions were safe.

That is the difference between a vague excuse and a usable force majeure clause.

If your standard contract agreement still says only "weather permitting" or "Acts of God excluded," tighten it before the next storm season. The broader small-shop clause framework is in Every Trade Contract Needs These 12 Clauses. This article is the delay clause drill-down for roofers, remodelers, landscapers, fence installers, exterior painters, concrete crews, pool contractors, tree services, and any trade that can lose a week to events nobody controls.

What "Acts of God" means in real contract work

"Act of God" is an old shorthand for extraordinary natural events outside human control: hurricane, flood, tornado, earthquake, lightning, extreme wind, and similar events. In modern contracts, the cleaner term is usually force majeure or excusable delay.

The label is less important than the mechanics.

A useful force majeure clause answers six questions:

1. What events count?
2. How badly must the event affect the job?
3. What notice must be sent?
4. What documents prove the delay?
5. What relief does the contractor get: time only, money too, or termination after a long shutdown?
6. What must the contractor do to protect the customer and reduce the damage?

Do not assume a court, customer, GC, insurer, or property manager will fill those blanks in your favor. Some force majeure clauses are read narrowly. Some only give extra time, not extra money. Some exclude cost escalation. Some protect only the owner. Some require notice in a few days. Some do not cover suppliers unless the supplier was hit by the same kind of event.

That is why the clause belongs in the signed contract, not in a text after the problem starts.

For a roofing-specific job file, pair the clause with a precise roofing contract agreement, a crew-level roofing work order, and a final roofing warranty that starts when work is actually accepted, not when the original schedule said it should have been accepted.

Hurricane season is predictable. The landfall is not.

The National Hurricane Center says the Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30. OSHA's hurricane guidance also treats hurricanes as serious workplace hazards and reminds employers that they remain responsible for worker safety during response and recovery work.

That creates a drafting problem.

A customer may say, "Hurricanes are predictable, so you should have planned around it." A contractor may say, "This exact storm path, supplier closure, evacuation order, power outage, and inspection delay were not under my control."

Both statements can be partly true.

Good contract language does not pretend storms are surprising in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, the Carolinas, the Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico, or the Atlantic coast. Instead, it says normal seasonal weather is part of the price, but abnormal weather events and public-safety orders that actually delay the work trigger a documented extension.

That distinction matters.

The clause should not reward sloppy scheduling. It should protect you when a real external event blocks safe or lawful performance.

The bad version: "weather permitting"

"Weather permitting" is better than nothing. It is not enough.

It does not say whether the customer gets notice. It does not say whether a supplier closure counts. It does not say whether the extension covers only days of rain or also drying time, inspection backlog, utility restoration, rescheduling, remobilization, or material replacement. It does not say whether the contractor must tarp the work. It does not say what happens if the job is blocked for 30 days.

Worse, vague weather language gets mixed with other bad clauses. A big-company template may have a no-damage-for-delay clause, strict completion date, daily liquidated damages, broad backcharge rights, and no useful weather carveout. That combination is one of the red flags in What to Cross Out in Big-Company Contract Templates Before You Sign.

If the deadline matters, write the delay rule clearly.

The better version: a force majeure procedure

For a small contractor, the best clause is not dramatic. It is procedural.

It should say that neither party is responsible for delay or failure to perform to the extent performance is prevented, delayed, or made unsafe by events beyond that party's reasonable control and without that party's fault or negligence.

Then list the events that fit your work:

• named storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, lightning, extreme heat, freeze events, and unusually severe weather;
• evacuation orders, curfews, road closures, utility interruptions, permit-office closures, inspection-office closures, and other government actions;
• supplier, manufacturer, carrier, or distributor shutdowns caused by the same kind of external event;
• epidemics, quarantine restrictions, and public-health orders when they actually affect labor, materials, site access, or lawful performance;
• labor strikes or freight embargoes not caused by your own breach;
• fire, explosion, or unavoidable casualty at the site, shop, supplier, or material storage location.

A federal excusable-delay model uses the same general logic in FAR 52.249-14, which lists acts of God, government acts, fires, floods, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, strikes, freight embargoes, and unusually severe weather as examples of excusable-delay causes when the failure is beyond the contractor's control and without its fault or negligence. That federal clause is not your residential contract, but it is a useful drafting model: external cause, no contractor fault, and a schedule remedy.

For goods and materials, UCC 2-615 points in the same direction for sellers when performance becomes impracticable because an assumed contingency fails or government regulation intervenes. Again, do not treat that as a magic answer for service work. Use it as a reminder that notice, allocation, and contract wording matter when materials get disrupted.

The clause has to say what relief you get

Force majeure does not automatically mean "I get paid more."

Many clauses give only more time. That may be enough for a one-day rain delay. It is not enough when a storm causes demobilization, restocking fees, material storage, emergency tarping, debris cleanup, a second permit visit, or a supplier price jump.

Separate time relief from cost relief.

Time relief: the contract completion date extends by the number of days reasonably caused by the event, plus documented restart time needed for drying, inspections, access, utility restoration, material delivery, or remobilization.

Cost relief: the contractor is paid for documented costs caused by the event only if the contract says so. That can include site protection, temporary covering, demobilization, remobilization, storage, restocking, price escalation for unreleased materials, extra equipment rental, or customer-requested acceleration after the delay.

No double recovery: if insurance, warranty, supplier credit, or customer allowance covers a cost, the contract should avoid charging it twice.

No open checkbook: the customer can require written backup, reasonable mitigation, and approval for non-emergency costs.

That balance is what keeps the clause fair. The contractor does not eat a storm. The customer does not fund unrelated inefficiency.

When a delay changes scope, price, material, or schedule, route it through a signed change order. The workflow is the same one covered in Change Orders - Get the Signature Before You Pick Up the Tool: write the change, price it, date it, and get approval before the extra becomes disputed work.

Notice is where contractors lose the clause

Most force majeure clauses require notice. Some require it quickly.

Do not wait until final invoice.

Send notice as soon as you know the event may affect the job. The notice does not need to be a legal memo. It needs to identify:

1. The contract and project address.
2. The event causing delay.
3. The affected work.
4. The expected schedule impact, if known.
5. What you are doing to protect the site and reduce delay.
6. What backup will follow.
7. When you will provide the next update.

For example:

We are sending notice that Tropical Storm [Name], the county evacuation order, and supplier closure are delaying roof tear-off and delivery scheduled for [date]. We are securing materials already on site, postponing tear-off until safe dry-in conditions are available, and will provide a revised start date after the county order is lifted and the supplier confirms delivery. We will document the delay with photos, supplier notice, weather advisory, and daily log entries.

That is the kind of sentence that protects a small shop. It is calm, specific, and tied to the contract.

If the delay turns into a default threat, use a formal notice path like the one in Cure Periods, Notice of Default, and the Right to Cure. A force majeure notice explains why work is delayed. A cure/default notice explains how the parties will fix a claimed contract breach. Keep those buckets separate.

Document the delay like you expect a dispute

The clause is only as good as the file behind it.

For storm and disaster delays, keep:

• National Hurricane Center advisories or local weather records;
• evacuation orders, road closure notices, curfews, or permit-office closure notices;
• supplier emails, delivery cancellation notices, freight delay records, and purchase order notes;
• jobsite photos before and after the event;
• tarping, dry-in, cleanup, storage, and protection photos;
• crew texts or dispatch records showing cancellation and restart dates;
• inspection scheduling records;
• customer updates;
• a daily log tying the event to the work that could not proceed.

The construction daily report log is the simplest place to keep this straight. For smaller jobs, a short work order note with photos may be enough. For jobs with drawings, specs, or owner decisions, use a request for information when the storm exposes a condition or creates a decision point.

This also protects you from the most common customer argument: "The storm did not delay all of your work."

Maybe true. If you could safely do interior punch-list work while exterior work was blocked, the file should show that. If you could not safely proceed because utilities were off, roads were closed, materials were unavailable, or the work area was unsafe, the file should show that too.

Supplier delays need their own sentence

Small shops get hit hardest by supplier disruption because they have less buying power.

Your clause should not say every supplier delay is excused. That would cover bad ordering, weak vendor management, and avoidable shortages. Instead, write a narrower rule:

• supplier or manufacturer delay counts only when caused by an external event beyond both your control and the supplier's control;
• you must notify the customer promptly;
• you must try reasonable alternate sourcing;
• substitutions require written approval;
• added cost is handled only if the contract or change order allows it;
• custom, special-order, or nonreturnable materials are handled under the payment and cancellation terms.

Use a clean purchase order for special materials and keep the supplier's terms in the job file. If the job gets delayed by a storm after materials are ordered, your invoice and payment schedule should make clear what is work completed, what is material purchased, what is stored, and what remains open.

If you are a subcontractor under a GC, also check whether your subcontract has pay-if-paid language or owner-approval language for weather-related change orders. The risk is explained in Pay-When-Paid vs Pay-If-Paid. Storm delay is bad enough. Do not let it also become unpaid owner-credit risk.

Do not use force majeure to hide scope gaps

Storms reveal weak scope.

The roofer opens the roof and finds rotten decking. The fence crew finds saturated soil and leaning posts. The exterior painter finds moisture readings too high to coat. The landscaper finds drainage damage after flooding. The remodeler finds water intrusion after wind-driven rain.

Some of that may be force majeure. Some may be concealed condition. Some may be an exclusion. Some may be customer maintenance. Some may be your own pre-job inspection miss.

Do not throw all of it into one "Act of God" bucket.

Use the right document:

• The statement of work defines what was included.
• The site assessment checklist proves what you could see before pricing.
• The force majeure notice explains external delay.
• The change order prices added scope.
• The daily report records conditions, photos, crew time, and access limits.
• The completion certificate confirms accepted work and remaining punch-list items.
• The warranty or trade warranty explains what happens after closeout.

For field conditions that do not match the signed scope, use the stop-and-document workflow in When the Plans Don't Match the Field. A storm does not make unpaid extras free. It also does not make every defect the customer's problem. The paperwork should sort those facts before the crew improvises.

Price escalation is not the same as force majeure

After COVID and supply-chain shocks, many contractors started treating force majeure as a price-escalation clause. That is risky.

Force majeure usually deals with delay, impossibility, impracticability, or external interference. Price escalation deals with cost movement. They overlap when a covered event disrupts supply, but they are not the same clause.

If shingles, copper, panels, concrete, fuel, lumber, fixtures, or equipment can move materially between quote and install, write a separate price-validity and material-escalation rule in the quote estimate and contract.

A practical clause says:

• the quote is valid for a stated number of days;
• material prices are locked only after deposit and supplier confirmation;
• customer-requested delay may reopen pricing;
• covered external events may extend time but do not automatically increase price unless material costs actually change and the contract allows adjustment;
• substitutions require written approval;
• cancellation after special-order materials are released may require payment for nonreturnable items.

That is cleaner than trying to make "Acts of God" carry every pricing problem.

The ICC's force majeure model materials are useful here because they separate the idea of an external impediment from hardship. For small shops, the lesson is simple: if the problem is time, write a time clause. If the problem is price movement, write a price clause. If both can happen, write both.

A small-shop force majeure clause outline

This is not legal language to paste blindly. Treat it as a drafting brief for your attorney or a checklist for your next contract revision.

Covered events. Events beyond the affected party's reasonable control and without that party's fault or negligence, including named storms, hurricanes, floods, wildfire, tornado, earthquake, lightning, unusually severe weather, evacuation order, road closure, utility interruption, permit or inspection office closure, government order, epidemic, quarantine restriction, freight embargo, labor strike not caused by the affected party, supplier closure caused by a covered event, fire, explosion, or unavoidable casualty.

Actual impact required. The event must actually prevent, delay, make unsafe, or make unlawful the affected work, delivery, inspection, access, or performance.

Notice. The affected party must give written notice within a stated time after it knows the event may affect performance. The notice should describe the event, affected work, expected schedule impact, protective measures, and next update.

Documentation. The affected party must provide reasonable backup such as weather advisories, public orders, supplier notices, photos, daily reports, inspection records, delivery records, or other job documentation.

Mitigation. Each party must take reasonable steps to reduce delay, protect work in place, protect people, and avoid unnecessary cost.

Time relief. Contract time is extended by the period reasonably caused by the event, including documented restart time.

Cost relief. Additional costs are paid only if the contract, change order, allowance, insurance process, or applicable law allows them. Emergency site protection may be handled separately.

Subcontractors and suppliers. A supplier or subcontractor delay counts only when the same standard is met for that party and reasonable alternate sourcing was not available on commercially reasonable terms.

Termination after long delay. If the event continues beyond a stated number of days, either party may terminate under a written closeout process. The customer pays for work performed, approved changes, materials purchased or committed, emergency protection, and documented closeout costs, subject to credits and insurance proceeds where applicable.

That outline is not fancy. It is enough to stop the worst argument: "You promised Friday no matter what."

What to tell the customer before storm season

The best time to explain force majeure is before the customer is staring at radar.

Use plain language in the contract review:

"The schedule assumes normal weather and safe access. If a named storm, evacuation order, supplier closure, inspection shutdown, or other event outside either side's control delays the work, we send written notice, secure the site, document the delay, and revise the schedule. If the event creates extra scope or emergency protection cost, we document that separately before billing it."

That sentence does not sound like legal maneuvering. It sounds like a professional job process.

If your shop serves storm-prone trades, make this part of the sales handoff. The customer should understand the rule when they sign the contract, approve the quote, and receive the work schedule. If the project is exterior-heavy, link the force majeure clause to the trade documents in the roofing catalog or the relevant trade catalog so crews and office staff are using the same language.

What to do when the storm is already coming

Do not debate the clause while the crew is trying to secure materials.

Use a simple sequence:

1. Check the contract for notice deadline and covered events.
2. Stop unsafe work.
3. Photograph site conditions and work in place.
4. Secure materials, dry-in areas, openings, tools, waste, and temporary protection.
5. Send written notice to the customer or GC.
6. Save public advisories, closure notices, supplier messages, and inspection updates.
7. Update the daily log.
8. Price any emergency protection, added scope, or remobilization separately if the contract allows it.
9. Send a revised schedule as soon as safe access, labor, inspections, and materials are known.
10. Resume only when the work can be performed safely and defensibly.

That sequence gives you a clean story later: the event happened, the site was protected, the customer was notified, and the schedule changed for documented reasons.

The clause does not excuse unsafe work

OSHA's hurricane guidance is a reminder that storm response and recovery create serious hazards: power lines, unstable structures, floodwater, mold, heat, debris, ladders, aerial lifts, chainsaws, traffic, and contaminated materials.

Do not let a completion date push the crew into unsafe conditions.

A good force majeure clause should say the contractor may suspend affected work when continuing would be unsafe, unlawful, or inconsistent with public orders. It should also say the contractor must take reasonable protective steps. That protects both sides: you do not abandon the job, and the customer does not demand unsafe work.

For high-risk recovery tasks, use a job hazard analysis or safety checklist before dispatching the crew. The delay clause protects the schedule. The safety paperwork protects the people.

The rule to remember

An "Acts of God" clause does not save you because it sounds dramatic.

It saves you because it creates a procedure:

• define the outside event;
• connect it to the work that actually stopped;
• notify the customer quickly;
• document the facts;
• protect the site;
• mitigate where reasonable;
• revise the schedule;
• price extra scope separately;
• close the job with clean acceptance and warranty paperwork.

That is what protects the roofer in the storm-season example. Not a magic phrase. A contract clause connected to a documented job file.

Sources

• National Hurricane Center
• OSHA Hurricane Preparedness and Response
• OSHA Hurricane Preparedness Planning
• Ready Business Hurricane Toolkit
• Ready.gov Emergency Response Plan
• FAR 52.249-14, Excusable Delays
• UCC 2-615, Excuse by Failure of Presupposed Conditions
• ICC Force Majeure and Hardship Clauses
• ConsensusDocs, Hunker Down and Don't Get Burned

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This article is for general information and is not legal, tax, insurance, safety, or compliance advice. Verify contract, delay, weather, insurance, OSHA, licensing, lien, and payment rules with your state contractor board, local authority having jurisdiction, insurance adviser, attorney, or CPA before acting.