---
title: O.C.G.A. § 13-4-20. Requirements as to performance of contractual obligations generally.
collection: code
id: 13-4-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 13-4-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-4-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-4-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-4-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t13-(v11)-2010-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=e4dbdcfd_0#page=236
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-4.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-4-5.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/code/13-4-21.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CONTRACTS / MODIFICATION, EXTINGUISHMENT, AND RENEWAL / PERFORMANCE
---

# O.C.G.A. § 13-4-20. Requirements as to performance of contractual obligations generally.

Performance, to be effectual, must be accomplished by the party bound to perform, or by his agent where personal skill is not required, or by someone substituted, by consent, in his place, and must be substantially in compliance with the spirit and the letter of the contract and completed within a reasonable time.

## History

Orig. Code 1863, § 2811; Code 1868, § 2819; Code 1873, § 2870; Code 1882, § 2870; Civil Code 1895, § 3724; Civil Code 1910, § 4318; Code 1933, § 20-1101.

## Cross References

Delegation of performance under Uniform Commercial Code, § 11-2-210. Effect of absence of specific time provision in sales contracts under Uniform Commercial Code, § 11-2-309. Duty of administrator or executor to fulfill, when possible, decedent’s contractual obligations, § 53-7-9.

## Law Reviews

For article discussing failure of consideration, see 4 Mercer L. Rev. 327 (1953). For article surveying recent legislative and judicial developments in Georgia’s real property laws, see 31 Mercer L. Rev. 187 (1979).