Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Variations definition

What does Variations mean? Variations are changes to the agreed works under a construction contract, instructed through the contract mechanism to alter scope, quantity, quality, design, sequence or timing. They are ordered by the employer’s contract administrator, project manager or engineer. The term is not defined by statute; its meaning stems from standard forms and case law across the UK and Ireland. A valid variation must be instructed in accordance with the contract (often in writing) and remain within the general scope of the original works; a fundamental or “cardinal” change may fall outside the contract. Variations can add to, omit from, or change...

Protecting Guarantees Against Lease Variations: Licences, Waivers, Rent Reviews, Section 18, Surrender and Regrant (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

Losing guarantee covenants

At any stage in the economic cycle, landlords seek to shield themselves against tenant default, particularly where the occupier appears high risk — for instance, a newly formed small company, a minor subsidiary, or where enforcement is expected to be expensive (as with a foreign corporation). In periods of recession, or a credit squeeze, the need for protection features in every letting. Landlords commonly require a guarantee covenant from a guarantor as ‘principal debtor’ or ‘primary obligor’; this ensures the guarantor’s liability is direct rather than simply ancillary to the tenant’s. The breadth of the guarantor’s liability turns on construing the guarantee contract, but it can never exceed that of the principal debtor. A covenant in such terms is unlikely to displace the fundamental character of a guarantor’s liability, which is secondary and generally co-extensive with the tenant’s. The general law on guarantees still applies, and landlords must therefore ensure guarantee clauses include safeguarding wording to prevent the guarantor being released in certain well-known situations...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...

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