b'Page3 Wil1thecourtsenforcealiquidateddamagesprovision?The cour tsdistinguishbetweenliquidateddamagesandapenalty,and refusetoenforcethelatter.I ti softendi.fficulttodetermi ne whetheraparticular provisionisapenalty or avalidprovisi on f orliquidateddamages.Theanswerisfoundintheintentionof theparties,thedifficultyindetermininga ctualdam and ages thereasonablenessofthestipulatedsum.Thecourtswillnot enforceal iquidateddamagesprovisionwhichstipulatesasum patentlyunrelatedtotheactualdamagessufferedbytheot her party.Asasubcontractor,youareconcernedprimaril ywith thedamaget othegeneralcontractorr esul tingfromyourdel ay. Inmostcaseshewillbedamagedonlyif he ,inturn,isl iabl e totheownerfordamagesresultingfromdelay .If thecourt findsthel i quidateddamageprovi si ontobevalid ,theweight ofauthority holdsthattheamountofthestipulateddamagesmay berecoveredeventhoughnoactualdamagesaresufferedasa consequenceofthedelay. Whati fthedelayisnotyourfault?Ifyouhaveboundyourselftoat i mel i mityouwillnotbel i ableforabreachofi t if yourdelinquencyiscausedbytheother party.Insomecases t hedelaymaybecausedbybothparties .Althoughthecourts differonthispoint,mosthol clthatwheretheper sonwithwhom youhavecontracted hascausedasubstantialdelayinthebeginni ngorintheprogressoftheworkthetimelimitfixedinthe contractandanyprovisionforliquidateddamagesbasedoni t areent1relyvoid.Undersuchcircumstancesyouwillremainre sponsibleonlyforcompletionoftheworkwithinareasonable time.Beforerelyingonthisgeneralproposition,however,read yourcontractcarefully.Itmaycontainspecialnoticepr ovisi ons requiringyoutogivewrittennoticeof aclaimofdelayorapplicationforextentiontothearchitect ,engineeror,inthecase of governmentcontracts,tothecontractingofficer. Whataboutgovernmentcontracts?Liquidateddamagesare expresslyrecognizedinpubliccontractsandtheapplicabl e governingprinc.iplesaregener al lythesameasi npri vatecontracts . Li qui dity Thetitl eofthisarticleisnotintendedtorefertoone ofthenotablecharacteristicsofMRCAconventions;r ather,it referstocash.Andasownersofsmallbusinesses,thisisa subjectof particularconcerntoyouandtoyourprospective widows. Therearefewassetslessmarketablethan11 one-man 11businesses . Ifyouwishtopreserveanyofthe11 goingconcern 11valueofyour businessforyourestate,startplanningnow.'