Should the Contract Documents include details of Tender Addenda?

Having received a significant addendum whilst tendering, should that have been included within the Contract Documents? We have a separate estimating/bidding team, and they had incorrectly filed the addendum so we (the site team) have only just realised that it even exists!

Obviously, there are questions to be raised with regard to our tendering procedure but how do we stand contractually? There is no documentation within the contract we have been awarded referring to any addenda at all. The addendum increased the specification of some items but apparently we haven’t priced them as such. The WI has recently been updated to reflect the change in specification so we notified it as a CE, only to be told that it actually wasn’t a change at all.

The simple answer is yes, any tendered addendum/amendment received before return of the tender should have been considered in the Prices and programme.

If the offer, tender return, was accepted by letter the letter should list the documents forming the contract.

What should be included in the contract documents is the rights and obligations of the parties which they have agreed to. If those were agreed during negotiations, over a pint in the pub, while running a marathon it doesn’t matter. The only relevant document really will be the contract which has been signed. If one has not be signed then you have to work out what form part of the contract and what doesn’t (which can be quite complicated). There are other rules you could look at if the contract has been signed but does not reflect the agreement reached but these really are complicated and fact sensitive, suffice to say going behind the signed document is very difficult.