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Counting Days in a Contract

Written by Ben Raffel on . Posted in Article.

Counting days in a contract can often be confusing.  If you put a 7-day inspection contingency in the contract, how many days is that?  Is that business days or calendar days?  What day do you begin to count, and what time of day does the contingency end?

The answer will depend on which contract you use.  Using a 7-day inspection contingency as an example, if you are using a GCAAR contract, the inspection contingency would start the day following ratification and would end at 6:00 PM on the 7th day following ratification.  Under the MAR contract, the inspection contingency would start on the day following contract acceptance and would end at 11:59 PM on the 7th day following contract acceptance.  Like the GCAAR contract, the inspection contingency in the NVAR contract would also start on the day following ratification, but it would end at 9:00 PM on the 7th day following ratification.  Generally, the term “day” means calendar day unless otherwise specified in the contract.  Below is the specific language regarding counting days for the GCAAR, MAR, and NVAR contracts.

GCAAR:

  • For the purpose of computing time periods, the first Day will be the Day following Delivery; and
  • The time period will end at 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the Day specified.
  • Day(s)” or “day(s)” means calendar day(s) unless otherwise specified in this Contract.

MAR:

  • For the purposes of calculating days, the count of “days” shall begin on the day following the day upon which any act or notice as provided in this Contract, or any addendum or addenda to this Contract, was required to be performed or made.
  • the term “days” shall mean consecutive calendar days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, whether federal, state, local or religious.
  • A day shall be measured from 12:00:00 a.m. to and including 11:59:59 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone.

NVAR:

  • “Day(s)” or “day(s)” means calendar day(s) unless otherwise specified in Contract.
  • For the purpose of computing time periods, the first Day will be the Day following Delivery; and
  • The time period will end at 9:00 p.m. on the Day specified.

For more information on how to calculate a home inspection contingency window, visit our blog here.


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Ben Raffel

Ben Raffel is a settlement attorney at Federal Title & Escrow; he began in 2018. He appreciates meeting new clients and guiding them through settlements.