Section 10.

10. The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day and including the last, unless the last day is a holiday, and then it is also excluded. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 11.

11. Whenever any act of a secular nature, other than a work of necessity or mercy, is appointed by law or contract to be performed upon a particular day, which day falls upon a holiday, it may be performed upon the next business day, with the same effect as if it had been performed upon […]

Section 12.

12. Words giving a joint authority to three or more public officers or other persons are construed as giving such authority to a majority of them, unless it is otherwise expressed in the Act giving the authority. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 13.

13. Words and phrases are construed according to the context and the approved usage of the language; but technical words and phrases, and such others as may have acquired a peculiar and appropriate meaning in law, or are defined in the succeeding section, are to be construed according to such peculiar and appropriate meaning or […]

Section 14.

14. (a) Words used in this code in the present tense include the future as well as the present; words used in the masculine gender include the feminine and neuter; the singular number includes the plural, and the plural the singular; the word person includes a corporation as well as a natural person; county includes city […]

Section 17.

17. Wherever any notice or other communication is required by this code to be mailed by registered mail, the mailing of such notice or other communication by certified mail shall be deemed to be a sufficient compliance with the requirements of law. (Added by Stats. 1959, Ch. 426.)

Section 18.

18. Notice is: 1. Actual—which consists in express information of a fact; or, 2. Constructive—which is imputed by law. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 19.

19. Every person who has actual notice of circumstances sufficient to put a prudent person upon inquiry as to a particular fact has constructive notice of the fact itself in all cases in which, by prosecuting such inquiry, he or she might have learned that fact. (Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 561, Sec. 15. (AB […]

Section 2.

2. This Code takes effect at twelve o’clock noon, on the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-three. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 20.

20. No statute, law, or rule is continued in force because it is consistent with the provisions of this Code on the same subject; but in all cases provided for by this Code, all statutes, laws, and rules heretofore in force in this State, whether consistent or not with the provisions of this Code, unless […]

Section 21.

21. This Act, whenever cited, enumerated, referred to, or amended, may be designated simply as “The Civil Code,” adding, when necessary, the number of the section. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 3.

3. No part of it is retroactive, unless expressly so declared. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 4.

4. The rule of the common law, that statutes in derogation thereof are to be strictly construed, has no application to this Code. The Code establishes the law of this State respecting the subjects to which it relates, and its provisions are to be liberally construed with a view to effect its objects and to […]

Section 5.

5. The provisions of this Code, so far as they are substantially the same as existing statutes or the common law, must be construed as continuations thereof, and not as new enactments. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 6.

6. No action or proceeding commenced before this Code takes effect, and no right accrued, is affected by its provisions. (Enacted 1872.)

Section 7.

7. Holidays within the meaning of this code are every Sunday and such other days as are specified or provided for as holidays in the Government Code of the State of California. (Amended by Stats. 1955, Ch. 165.)

Section 7.1.

7.1. Optional bank holidays within the meaning of Section 9 are: (a) Any closing of a bank because of an extraordinary situation, as that term is defined in the Bank Extraordinary Situation Closing Act (Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 3600) of Division 1 of the Financial Code). (b) Every Saturday. (c) Every Sunday. (d) January 1st. (e) The third Monday […]

Section 9.

9. All other days than those mentioned in Section 7 are business days for all purposes; provided, that as to any act appointed by law or contract, or in any other way, to be performed by, at, or through any bank organized under the laws of or doing business in this state, any optional bank […]