Which of the following are always considered as minimum preconditions for a contract? Select TWO that apply:
GPP, the employer, and Prosolia UK, the contractor, entered into five EPC contracts for the development of five different solar power generation plants in the United Kingdom. Four out of the five developments failed to be commissioned by the relevant due dates, with the delays ranging from 44 to 285 days.
Among other claims, GPP, acting through its two investment vehicles, claimed liquidated damages of £500 per day in all four contracts for Prosolia UK's failure to achieve completion of the plants by the due date. The liquidated damages claimed amounted to £1,804,221 across the four delayed contracts.
Prosolia, alongside various other defences, raised the defence that the liquidated damages provision in each contract was a penalty, and therefore unenforceable against it. Is Prosolia contractually obliged to make the payment to the plaintiff?