Errata

In a contract, the rights and obligations are created by the acts of agreement between the parties to the contract. English law does not require a particular form to contracts, and so the terms and ultimately the risk allocation are the choice of the parties involved.

Standard Form Contracts (SFC) aim to minimise the time and cost of creating contracts, but modifications may still be required, this may also be the case in the form of tender or tender process. These provisions generally come in the form of errata (or an erratum), corrigenda (or a corrigendum) as well as amendments and addendums.

Erratum refers to an error in a legal document, publication or tender, a mistake in its preparation, typography, printing or in production. Errata are corrections to known errors in form or wording rather than content, as such. In some cases it may be used to refer to an understanding between the parties that any errors in printing or typography will not alter the intent of the parties with respect to any such item.

Corrigendum refers to the item that needs to be corrected, that requires correction, before it can be corrected or receives an amendment, it can often refer to text or material that is to be subtracted but not exclusively. A corrigendum refers to an author's error, as such one that is content driven.

Amendment is a change to an existing contract, perhaps as a result of a corrigendum. In some cases, it may become necessary to amend a contract due to unforeseen circumstances. For instance, if certain clauses become obsolete or the industry changes and requires the inclusion of new terms, amendments may be required.

Addendum (or the plural, addenda) is written information that has been added to an original agreement. The information in an addendum is usually incorporated into the contract when the contract is executed.

Examples of errata might include, spelling mistakes, grammatical mistakes etc An errata clause may read something like; it is the understanding of the parties that any errors in printing or typography will not alter the intent of the parties with respect to any such item.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Addendum.
• Amendment 3 BS 7671 Requirements for Electrical Installations IET Wiring Regulations.
• Construction contract.
• Construction contract conditions.
• Construction disputes.
• Corrigendum.
• Errata.
• Essentials of a contract.
• Modifying clauses in standard forms of construction contract.
• Standard form of contract.
• Typical tender process for construction projects.