15.1 Smith shall have no liability to the Customer under the Contract if it is prevented from or delayed in performing its obligations under the Contract or from carrying on its business by acts, events, omissions or accidents beyond its reasonable control, including strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes (whether involving the workforce of Smith or any other party), failure of a utility service or transport network, act of God, war, riot, civil commotion, malicious damage, compliance with any law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, accident, breakdown of plant or machinery, fire, flood or storm.
15.2 Subject to condition 5, no variation of the Contract or these conditions or of any of the documents referred to in them shall be valid unless it is in writing and signed by both Smith and the Customer.
15.3 A waiver of any right under the Contract is only effective if it is in writing and it applies only to the party to whom the waiver is addressed and the circumstances for which it is given.
15.4 Unless specifically provided otherwise, rights arising under the Contract are cumulative and do not exclude rights provided by law.
15.5 If any provision (or part of a provision) of the Contract is found by any court or administrative body of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the other provisions will remain in force and if any invalid, unenforceable or illegal provision would be valid, enforceable or legal if some part of it were deleted, that provision will apply with whatever modification is necessary to make it valid, enforceable and legal.
15.6 Each of the parties acknowledges and agrees that, in entering into the Contract it does not rely on any undertaking, promise, assurance, statement, representation, warranty or understanding (whether in writing or not) of any person (whether party to these terms and conditions or not) relating to the subject matter of the Contract, other than as expressly set out in the Contract.
15.7 The Customer shall not, without the prior written consent of Smith, assign, transfer, charge, sub-contract or deal in any other manner with all or any of its rights or obligations under the Contract.
15.8 Nothing in the Contract is intended to, or shall operate to, create a partnership between the parties, or to authorise either party to act as agent for the other, and neither party shall have authority to act in the name or on behalf of or otherwise to bind the other in any way (including the making of any representation or warranty, the assumption of any obligation or liability and the exercise of any right or power).
15.9 A person who is not a party to the Contract has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act of 1999 to enforce any term of the Contract, but this does not affect any other right or remedy of a third party.
15.10 Notice given under the Contract shall be in writing, sent for the attention of the person and to the address or fax number given in the Contract (or such other address, fax number or person as the relevant party may notify to the other party) and shall be delivered personally, sent by fax or sent by pre-paid, first-class post or recorded delivery.
A notice is deemed to have been received, if delivered personally, at the time or delivery, in the case of fax, at the time of transmission, in the case of the pre-paid first class post or recorded delivery, 48 hours from the date of posting and, if deemed receipt under this condition 15.10 is not within business hours (meaning 9:00 am to 5:30 pm Monday to Friday) the notice shall be deemed to have been received at 9:00 am on the next business day following delivery. To prove service, it is sufficient to prove that the notice was transmitted by fax to the fax number of the party or, in the case of post, that the envelope containing the notice was properly addressed and posted.
15.11 The Contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and both parties agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction