When a legal document states that “time is of the essence”, it means that any deadlines specified within the contract must be strictly followed.
Failure to meet any specific deadline would result in a breach and may be grounds for canceling the contract altogether.
When no deadlines are specified in a legal contract, the parties are expected to act in a “reasonable time”. In legal terms, “reasonable time” means what someone would generally consider to be a realistic and practical timeframe under the circumstances described in the contract.