Public sector contract management

This subtopic is aimed at public sector lawyers dealing with contract matters and considers some of the key issues that parties may encounter during the contract lifecycle, including:

•
amendment and variation
•
subcontracting
•
transfer
•
rights of third parties

The guidance in this subtopic is intended to provide an overview of the main commercial issues which may be relevant to the management of contracts in the public sector. Further detailed guidance on commercial contracts, plus the full range of precedent agreements is available from Lexis+® UK Commercial.

Amendment and variation

A person purporting to vary the terms of a contract must have the authority to do so. Any agreement to vary a contract is subject to general contract principles and needs to be supported by consideration. Where the amendments favour one party only, it may be more difficult to establish an effective binding contract. If an attempted variation fails due to a lack of consideration, it may be possible to give effect to the variation by way of waiver or promissory estoppel.

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