Loss and Expense

Abstract

This chapter identifies standard forms and bespoke forms of contract that provide a mechanism whereby the employer can order changes to the work to be done. It discusses the power to order varied work that is used frequently by employers who have often not had all their requirements sorted out at the time of the letting of the contract. It also distinguishes limitations upon the employer’s right to vary the work pursuant to a normal variation clause, such as the limitation in which the change ordered cannot alter the essential characteristic of the contract itself. This chapter covers the limitation in which the employer may not order the omission of work simply in order to instruct another contractor to do the same or almost the same work. It describes claims for sums due under the contract that are dealt with non-contentiously.