A waiver of contract occurs when a party to a contract waives or gives up one or more rights or benefits it has under the terms of the contract. A party generally does not waive its rights unless the waiver is made voluntarily and with knowledge of the rights being waived—known as a “knowing and voluntary relinquishment of rights.”

Contracts often include a non-waiver paragraph or provision stating that a party’s (or the parties’) failure to pursue or exercise certain rights under the contract does not constitute a waiver of those or other rights under the contract. Such non-waiver provisions are common in insurance contracts and other commercial contracts.

In North Dakota, a waiver of contract rights must be made knowingly and voluntarily, which means the party waiving the rights must do so with full awareness and intention to relinquish specific rights or benefits under the contract. This aligns with the general legal principle that waivers should be clear and unambiguous. Non-waiver clauses are often included in contracts to clarify that the failure to enforce a right or provision does not imply that a party has waived their right to do so in the future. These clauses help prevent inadvertent waivers of rights and are particularly common in insurance and commercial contracts. North Dakota courts will generally enforce such non-waiver provisions as long as they are part of the contract and are consistent with the intentions of the parties. However, the specific enforceability of any waiver or non-waiver provision may depend on the particular circumstances and the language of the contract.