Greetings folks.

Another year is swiftly coming to a close, and what a year it has been!

As well as assisting our clients to manage risk and avoid disputes, Borcon has been involved in a number of adjudications, arbitrations and mediations in Y21.We have also hosted a number of online contract training sessions. Business for many in the built environment has been tough for another year running. We are glad to see that with our help, all of our clients have weathered the storm. Fortunately, Borcon has seen a year of growth for the third year running. We are looking to continue this trend in 2022.

Question: Have you ever stopped to think what is the purpose of you signing as a witness to a contract or an agreement?

The purpose of a witness is to authenticate the identity of the party signing a contract or agreement. Should a person who signed such a document later deny that he/she signed it, the witness can be called upon to give evidence to the contrary.

This in itself leads to two more important considerations:

Firstly, it is important that the contract details of the witness(es) are recorded so that they can be located later if necessary. This is the reason why witnesses are often required to write their physical addresses next to their signatures.

Secondly, it is obligatory for the witness to know the signer personally, as they are in fact witnessing that they recognise or acknowledge that the signature belongs to them.

Frequently it happens that the above two considerations are not taken seriously, which could lead to a situation where a witness cannot be found or cannot give evidence to verify the signer’s signature.

In a worst-case-scenario, this could lead to a contract being found to be invalid.

So, please pay attention when witnessing is required!

Training in 2022: We will update our training plans in mid/end January 2022. No doubt there will be some interesting topics coming through the MBA North, with whom BorCon is closely aligned.

Wishing everyone a fabulous festive season. May health, safety and common sense prevail! Brad & Tavia

Borcon will be closing on 15 December 2021 and will reopen on 4 January 2022.

“Please note that the writer is not an attorney and any opinions or advise given by Brad Boertje or Borcon (Pty) Ltd, is not to be considered legal advice. We do not accept or assume responsibility for consequences flowing from your potential reliance on such advices.”