Project contract amendment is mandated when either of the party involved in a contract term feel the need to make changes to the current project contract terms or any other part of the contractual condition.

This contract amendment or changes can be either an addition or alteration of terms that is available in the contract.

Through the project contract amendment, the right, condition, and obligations of the parties in the contract can be altered.

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In oblivion, parties in a contract strive to get all the important details in writing initials.

However, unplanned circumstances may spur, thus necessitating that changes must be made to the initial written terms.

Again, either of the parties involved in the project contractual agreement may have obtain new information or realised that there is a loophole in the agreement and thus request for contract amendment to be made to the initial contract terms.

Project contract amendment is an exercise that can arise anytime, either planned or unplanned.

In this article, there are some guidelines that will guide you in the process of making contract amendment in any project in order to avoid making an unnecessary mistake.

What Is Project Contract Amendment?

A project contract amendment is a mutual - agreed modification of a contract term, be it addition or deletion or both to the original contract. This include not only the term but also the clause, sections and definition if there's need to make an adjustment to any of them as well.

It also references the tittle and date of the original contract.  All parties must pen their signatures in the contract upon the amendment.

Project contract amendment can be made at any time in as much as all the parties involved agree to it. It takes place when you or any other party want to make changes to the contract terms.

Below Are Reasons Why Project Contract Amendment May Be Done;

You may enter into a contract with another party for a fixed period of time.  As the agreed fixed time approaches, you will now decide to extend the initial and agreed days given therefore, needing the initial contract or term to be amended.

Secondly, you bought a certain quantity of goods from another party in accordance with an agreed contract terms. After the finalisation of the term where all the parties had signed, then you now decided to make another purchase again. Therefore, the need for amendment on the terms again will be mandated in order to accommodate your new purchase.

Below are two scenarios that will make a project modification to take place. Verily, there are other reasons that will necessitate project contract amendment.

Guidelines To Amend Project Contract

When making a contract amendment to a project, ensure that the decision is mutually agreed on. Any existing contract and the amendment is in compliance with legal requirements of the underlying contract.

For instance, some project contract amendments usually have a reserve requirement, which are necessary to be in place before any modification can be done.

In addition to this, some states have added an additional requirements to contract laws related to amendment of some specified contracts.

These requirements may include; having a witness to attest to the contract signing or mandating that all parties signature must be append on the new modifications made.

In addendum, another way to amend project contract is through legal format. Legal format contract amendment is normally done through written format with the signatures of everyone that are part of the contract.

While oral contract is not prohibited, it is much better, secure and legally advised to have contract terms in writing form in order to avoid potential problem later on.

The above discussed ways are the process through which project contract amendment can take place.

In other to buttress these points, below are breakdown of the guidelines to make an amendment to project contract.

1. Always put the contract amendment in written form and make sure all the actors signed after the modification.
2. In the project contract amendment, refer to the original contract, the parties and date on which the original contract was signed.

This is to make the particular project which amendment was made on clear

3. Attach the new amendment to the original contract
4. Don't modify majority of the original contract terms: This is important if you intend to amend a previous project contract amendment. It is much better to sign a new agreement with new terms.
5. When making a project contract amendment, it's ideal to rewrite the entire section or paragraph of the contract with the changes. This will show the exact changes made to the contract.

How To Do Project Contract Amendment Before Signing

Making an amendment to a project before it is signed is not that complex because the parties are yet to finalise the agreement.

When a party present its standard contract to another party, the contract is usually biased.

Therefore, to ensure there is a justice in the contract process, the receiver of the contract draft need to create a catalogue of modification after reviewing and then, negotiate it with their counter party.

Parties have two ways to make an amendment to a project contract that are yet to be signed.

Firstly, in a case of minor modification, the party that wants to make the changes can put them in written format and sign their initial next to each other.

The party making the changes must inform the other party and make sure the counter party also signs the initials to the handwritten changes of the contract terms.

Secondly, if it is a significant modification of the contract, then the party intending to make the changes must negotiate with their counter party.

When a mutual agreement is reached by all, the party seeking for the modification can ask the contract drafter of the document to modify the previous version and include the newly agreed modification.

How To Do Contract Amendment After Signature

Contract amendment after all the actors has concluded and signed is not impossible.

As far as these parties involved in the project contract agreed to it or in a situation where the relationship between the contractual parties begin to grow sour against the terms provided in the contract or when an external factor like, regulatory change or component scarcity can be a determinant of modifying of a finalised and signed contract, because the contract must be in accordance with the reality.

However, the main aim of a contract is to be clear and specific in order to prevent potential disputes and conflict along the line.

An existing project contact usually have a clause that give condition for amendment.  That is, a contract may require an additional requirement for approval from the Board of Directors. However, this condition varies as it depends on what the clause for terms amendment has.

In most contracts, contract amendment is mandated to be made in written form.  However, in a situation where the applicable contract did not authorized this process, it is advisable you make your changes in a written form.

This help to prevent future disputes about the nature or wording of the amendments.

Then, draft the intended modification as suggested above before execution, "A party may informally make changes to the contract by redlining and striking through provision.

The party that's making the changes in the project contract can strike, and delete the rejected language and write out the new one.

Each party must sign the initial and write the date beside each alteration to show their acceptance for the changes.