Sections
32 entriesSection 1635Requires public and private contracts to be interpreted under the same rules unless the Civil Code provides otherwise. The provision establishes a…Section 1636Requires a contract to be interpreted to give effect to the parties’ mutual intention as it existed when they contracted, so far…Section 1637Requires the contract-interpretation rules in the chapter to be applied when the parties’ intention is otherwise doubtful. The provisions serve as tools…Section 1638Requires clear and explicit contractual language to govern interpretation unless applying that language would involve an absurdity. When the words are sufficiently…Section 1639Requires the parties’ intention in a written contract to be determined from the writing alone when possible, subject to the other provisions…Section 1640Requires the parties’ real intention to control when fraud, mistake, or accident causes a written contract to fail to express that intention.…Section 1641Requires a contract to be read as a whole and, where reasonably practicable, interpreted to give effect to every part. Each clause…Section 1642Requires multiple contracts concerning the same matters, between the same parties, and made as parts of substantially one transaction to be interpreted…Section 1643Requires a contract, when possible without violating the parties’ intention, to be interpreted in a way that makes it lawful, operative, definite,…Section 1644Requires contractual words to be understood in their ordinary and popular sense rather than a strict legal sense, unless the parties used…Section 1645Requires technical words in a contract to be interpreted as they are usually understood by persons in the relevant profession or business,…Section 1646Requires a contract to be interpreted under the law and usage of the place where it is to be performed. If the…Section 1646.5Allows parties to transactions totaling at least $250,000 to choose California law for their contractual rights and duties even without a reasonable…Section 1647Allows a contract to be explained by reference to the circumstances in which it was made and the subject matter to which…Section 1648Limits even broadly worded contracts to matters the parties appear to have intended to include. General language therefore does not extend contractual…Section 1649Requires an ambiguous or uncertain promise to be interpreted in the sense the promisor believed, when making the promise, that the promisee…Section 1650Limits particular contractual clauses by making them subordinate to the contract’s general intent. A specific clause therefore cannot be interpreted in isolation…Section 1651Requires specially written or specially directed contract terms to control generic printed or form terms, and purely original provisions to control copied…Section 1652Requires apparently conflicting contract provisions to be reconciled when possible by an interpretation giving some effect to each conflicting clause while subordinating…Section 1653Requires contractual words that are wholly inconsistent with the contract’s nature or the parties’ main intention to be rejected. Language fundamentally incompatible…Section 1654Requires unresolved contractual uncertainty to be interpreted most strongly against the party who caused the uncertainty. This rule applies only after the…Section 1655Establishes implied contract terms that are necessary to make the agreement reasonable or consistent with usage when the contract shows no contrary…Section 1656Establishes that matters considered by law or usage to be incidental to a contract, or necessary to carry it into effect, are…Section 1656.1Establishes rebuttable presumptions for when retail sales-tax reimbursement is added to or included in a sales price based on contract terms, sales…Section 1656.5Allows a qualified heavy-equipment renter to add estimated personal-property-tax reimbursement when the rental agreement provides for it, separately states the charge, and…Section 1657Sets a reasonable time for required contractual performance when no time is specified. If the required act is inherently capable of immediate…Section 1657.1Requires every period stated in a contract of adhesion for performing an act required by that contract to be reasonable. The rule…Section 1659Establishes a presumption that a promise made jointly by multiple parties is joint and several when every party joining in the promise…Section 1660Establishes a presumption that a promise written in the singular but executed by several persons creates joint and several liability. Multiple signers…Section 1661Defines an executed contract as one whose object has been fully performed and defines all other contracts as executory. The distinction therefore…Section 1662Sets default risk rules for California real-property sale contracts unless the contract states otherwise: before title or possession transfers, casualty loss or…Section 1663Establishes the euro as a commercially reasonable substitute and substantial equivalent for specified former currencies or ECU obligations at the applicable European…