Varying a contract

Over the course of a commercial arrangement, there will be occasions when a written contract needs to be varied or amended to reflect the changing needs of the parties or environment within which they are operating. Written contracts will either contain a prohibition on any variation or allow changes to be made, perhaps on the condition that such changes are in writing and signed off by the parties or their authorised representatives. A person purporting to vary and amend a contract must have the authority to do so.

An agreement that does not need to be in writing (or evidenced by it) may be varied by the oral agreement of the parties.

Any agreement to vary a contract is subject to general contract principles and needs to be supported by consideration. If an attempted contract