31.1 For the purposes of this Agreement, Force Majeure means any of the following events or circumstances:
31.1.1 war, civil war, armed conflict or terrorism; or
31.1.2 nuclear contamination unless in any case Sub-hubco and/or any Sub-hubco Party is the source or the cause of the contamination; or
31.1.3 chemical or biological contamination of the Works and/or the Facilities and/or the Site from any of the events referred to in Clause 31.1.1 above; or
31.1.4 pressure waves caused by devices travelling at supersonic speeds,
which directly causes either party to be unable to comply with all or a material part of its obligations under this Agreement.
31.2 Subject to Clauses 31.3 and 31.4 the party claiming relief shall be relieved from liability under this Agreement to the extent that by reason of the Force Majeure it is not able to perform its obligations under this Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt (but without prejudice to Clause 41 (Termination Resulting from Force Majeure)) the Authority shall not be entitled to terminate this Agreement for a Sub-hubco Event of Default if such Sub-hubco Event of Default arises from a Force Majeure Event.
31.3 Where a party is (or claims to be) affected by an event of Force Majeure:
31.3.1 it shall take all reasonable steps to mitigate the consequences of such an event upon the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, resume performance of its obligations affected by the event of Force Majeure as soon as practicable and use all reasonable endeavours to remedy its failure to perform; and
31.3.2 it shall not be relieved from liability under this Agreement to the extent that it is not able to perform, or has not in fact performed, its obligations under this Agreement due to its failure (if any) to comply with its obligations under Clause 31.3.1.
31.4 Without prejudice to Sub-hubco's rights under Clause 29 (Delay Events), Sub-hubco shall only be relieved from its obligations under Clauses 12 (The Design, Construction and Commissioning Process), 13 (Right of Access of Authority's Representative), 14 (Programme and Dates for Completion) and 29 (Delay Events) by Delay Events in accordance with Clause 29 (Delay Events).
31.5 The party claiming relief shall serve written notice on the other party within five (5) Business Days of it becoming aware of the relevant event of Force Majeure. Such initial notice shall give sufficient details to identify the particular event claimed to be an event of Force Majeure.
31.6 A subsequent written notice shall be served by the party claiming relief on the other party within a further five (5) Business Days which shall contain such relevant information relating to the failure to perform (or delay in performing) as is available, including (without limitation) the effect of the event of Force Majeure on the ability of the party to perform, the action being taken in accordance with Clause 31.3, the date of the occurrence of the event of Force Majeure and an estimate of the period of time required to overcome it (and/or its effects).
31.7 The party claiming relief shall notify the other as soon as the consequences of the event of Force Majeure have ceased and of when performance of its affected obligations can be resumed.
31.8 If, following the issue of any notice referred to in Clause 31.6, the party claiming relief receives or becomes aware of any further information relating to the event of Force Majeure (and/or any failure to perform), it shall submit such further information to the other party as soon as reasonably possible.
31.9 Nothing in this Clause 31 shall affect the Authority's entitlement to make Deductions in the period during which any event of Force Majeure is subsisting.
31.10 The parties shall endeavour to agree any modifications to this Agreement which may be equitable having regard to the nature of an event or events of Force Majeure. Schedule Part 20 (Dispute Resolution Procedure) shall not apply to a failure of the Authority and Sub-hubco to reach agreement pursuant to this Clause 31.10.