Incorporate amended legislation

When legislation is referred to in an agreement, the parties need to ensure that this reference will automatically update as changes are made to the legislation. Contracts need to include specific wording to allow this to happen.

In the case of William Hare Ltd v Shepherd Construction Ltd [2009] EWHC 1603 (TCC) (25 June 2009), the court declined to incorporate amendments made to an Act before the contract was signed which were not specifically referred to in the contract.

You should check that your contracts deal adequately with amendments to legislation. Read Wragge & Co's suggested best practice wording to address this issue.