{"id":10003,"date":"2026-04-21T11:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/unilateral-termination-construction-contract\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T22:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:05:00","slug":"unilateral-termination-construction-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/unilateral-termination-construction-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a Construction Contract Be Terminated Unilaterally?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The most important legal instrument of property development processes, <strong class=\"font-semibold text-[#1A3B23]\">construction contracts in return for independent units<\/strong>, are contracts of a mixed nature that carry serious obligations for landowners and contractors alike. In practice, when faced with difficulties, the parties frequently think of taking the route of &#8220;terminating the contract unilaterally and getting out of it&#8221;. The settled case law of the Court of Cassation (Yarg\u0131tay), however, lays down far stricter rules on this point than is generally supposed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So, can a construction contract in return for independent units be terminated without taking a legal risk?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-sm font-semibold text-[#1A3B23] mb-1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As a Rule, Unilateral Termination Is Not Possible<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">According to the practice of the Court of Cassation, mixed contracts containing elements of a &#8220;contract for work&#8221; and of a &#8220;promise to sell&#8221;, such as a construction contract in return for independent units, cannot be brought to an end by a unilateral declaration of intent by the parties (for example, merely by sending a formal notice). The basic rule for termination in contracts of this kind is:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"list-disc pl-4 mb-2 space-y-1\">\n<li class=\"text-sm\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong class=\"font-semibold text-[#1A3B23]\">Mutual agreement of the parties<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"text-sm\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong class=\"font-semibold text-[#1A3B23]\">A court decision<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Situations frequently encountered in practice, such as a &#8220;change in the zoning plan&#8221; or a &#8220;cancellation of the zoning status&#8221;, do not automatically render the contract invalid. <strong>The criterion of the Court of Cassation on this point is quite clear: what is taken as the basis is whether the construction was feasible on the date the contract was concluded.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If the construction was in a feasible state at the time the contract was made, zoning obstacles that emerge later are not always accepted as &#8220;impossibility of performance&#8221;. This does not give the landowner a direct right to terminate the contract.<br \/>\nThe presence of a &#8220;termination clause&#8221; in many contracts does not give the parties the power to end the contract whenever they wish. The Court of Cassation emphasises that, even where there is a termination clause, using that clause requires a formal notice to be served, a reasonable period to be granted and the grounds to be lawful. A termination that does not comply with the procedure not only fails to end the contract but may also place the parties under a serious <strong class=\"font-semibold text-[#1A3B23]\">burden of compensation<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-sm font-semibold text-[#1A3B23] mb-1\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Which Situations Create Legal Risk?<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"list-disc pl-4 mb-2 space-y-1\">\n<li class=\"text-sm\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Withdrawing from the project by saying &#8220;I did not like the project&#8221;,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"text-sm\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Changing the contractor using a zoning change as a pretext,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"text-sm\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Notifying termination of the contract while the process is ongoing, without the consent of the contractor.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Steps of this kind may result in the landowner being ordered to pay compensation for &#8220;breach of contract&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Construction contracts in return for independent units are not merely a piece of paper; they are the legal security of projects that last for years and carry high costs. A mistake made at the contract stage may lead to losses that are difficult to make good during a termination process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-2 leading-relaxed\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you are experiencing a deadlock in a construction project or are considering terminating the contract, I recommend that you take advice from a specialist in property law before taking any step. In the management of legal processes, a professional strategy in conducting the case or in reaching a settlement can protect you from major financial losses.<\/p>\n<p>This article is for information purposes only and does not take the place of legal advice specific to your particular case.<br \/>\nYou may contact us for a detailed assessment.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The most important legal instrument of property development processes, construction contracts in return for independent units, are contracts of a mixed nature that carry serious obligations for landowners and contractors alike. In practice, when faced with difficulties, the parties frequently think of taking the route of &#8220;terminating the contract unilaterally and getting out of it&#8221;&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-law","aeen-post-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sukrukose.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}