The basic stoppage: 30 consecutive days
AIA A201-2017 §14.1.1 lets the Contractor terminate if the Work is stopped for 30 consecutive days through no act or fault of the Contractor or its subcontractors, for one of the listed reasons.
Keep the numbers apart:
- 7 days is the §14.1.3 termination notice, not the stoppage.
- 14 days is the §3.7.4 concealed-conditions notice.
- 60 days is the §14.1.4 trigger for repeated Owner failures. Using it for the basic stoppage is a common error.
The four listed reasons
§14.1.1 lists four grounds for the 30-day stoppage:
- a court or public-authority order stopping all Work;
- an act of government, such as a declared national emergency;
- the Architect's failure to certify payment without reasons, or the Owner's failure to pay a certified amount on time;
- the Owner's failure to furnish evidence of financial arrangements under §2.2.
The trap is disagreement with a Construction Change Directive. It is not a ground, because §7.3.6 requires the Contractor to promptly proceed with a directive.
Notice to terminate: 7 days
Under §14.1.3, after a qualifying stoppage the Contractor may terminate upon seven days' notice to the Owner and Architect.
- Termination is not automatic; notice is required.
- Fourteen or 30 days' notice are common errors.
- Notice to the Owner only omits the Architect.
Repeated Owner failures: 60 days
§14.1.4: if the Work is stopped for 60 consecutive days because the Owner has repeatedly failed to fulfill its obligations on matters important to the progress of the Work, the Contractor may terminate on seven additional days' written notice to the Owner and Architect.
- Immediate termination skips the required notice.
- Ninety days is not the A201 trigger; 90 days is a Miller Act period.
- Saying termination is never available for repeated Owner failures contradicts §14.1.4.
The pattern to remember: a stoppage period (30 or 60 consecutive days) plus a 7-day notice, in both paths.