The attestation clause is the place in the agreement where the parties sign to indicate their consent to the provisions of the agreement. The execution clauses and signature blocks are found at the end of the agreement, preferably after the schedules and before the appendices and annexures.
Attestation clauses often state that the agreement is signed by the duly authorised representative of the party. Such representations will help ensure the signatory considers if he has authority to sign the agreement on behalf of the named party and the other party considers if the signatory has actual or apparent authority to bind that party.
If a person is to sign an agreement in two capacities (eg as principal and as agent for another) it is usual to sign separately in each capacity. A single signature is legally effective if it is stated to be in both capacities or there is evidence that the signatory intended it to be a double signature.
The attestation clause is the place in the agreement where the parties sign to indicate their consent to
This Practice Note describes the structure and form of a business to business commercial contract or agreement. It outlines the form which commercial agreements generally take and explains what information should be included in the contract document, including in the parties, background (or recitals), main body, schedules and attestation sections.Form of commercial contractsHow a contract is formedA contract is a legally binding agreement that grants rights and creates duties between two or more parties. Contract law principles provide that for a contract to exist, four key elements must be present:•offer (see Practice Note: Forming enforceable contracts—offer)•acceptance (see Practice Note: Forming enforceable contracts—acceptance)•consideration (see Practice Note: Forming enforceable contracts—consideration), and•an intention to create legal relations (see Practice Note: Forming enforceable contracts—intention to create legal relations)Simple contracts v deedsSimple contracts may be created orally, by conduct or in writing.Certain types of simple contracts however must be created in writing. For details, see Practice Note: Contracts required to be in writing.Some agreements require greater formality and must be executed by deed. A deed.
Execution formalities—under a power of attorney This Practice Note provides practical guidance on the proper execution of simple contracts and deeds by third party individuals or corporations (primarily companies incorporated under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)), acting under a power of attorney. It considers who can grant a power of attorney, who can act as an attorney and execution formalities when executing simple contracts or deeds under a power of attorney. This Practice Note does not cover the execution of powers of attorney themselves. For details, see Precedent: Power of attorney for commercial transactions. This Practice Note does not cover the execution of documents by other authorised signatories of organisations. For more details, see Practice Note: Executing documents—deeds and simple contracts. We have produced a toolkit that is a comprehensive, interactive resource to help users identify and work through the concepts and common issues when executing documents. Each section or phase includes practical guidance, precedent clauses and Q&As relevant to that section. For more information, see: Execution toolkit. Quick view This table provides.
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