ABSTRACT
Assignment occurs when a right or duty is legally transferred from one party to another. After the transfer, the original party retains no interest in the right or duty transferred. The parties to a building contract are, of course, the employer and the contractor. In broad terms their rights are to receive a completed building and to receive payment respectively. The third party is not entitled to dispute enforceable agreements made between the employer and the contractor before the date of the assignment. All three traditional forms of contract forbid sub-letting of the whole or any part of the Works without the written consent of the architect. Sometimes it is essential that a specialist sub-contractor be nominated for particular work. The extension of time clause makes the execution of the work, or failure to execute work not forming part of the contract, a ground for extension of the contract period.
