Contract negotiation is an on-going process between parties to a Contract. Alterations are often sent back and forth multiple times before finalizing the Contract. It is therefore crucial to keep a track of such alterations when the Contract is under development and ensure that the parties are on the same page.

“Contract Redlining” simply refers to editing the terms and clauses of a Contract per parties’ requirements while keeping a track of every change that is made by either party. When changes are made in the Contract, the annotations and edits are marked in a certain colour (often red) which makes it easier for the other party to track the changes so made. The additions are marked in a coloured font and underlined while the deleted text might have brackets or strike-throughs so the parties may also have a reference to the original text.

Contract Redlining often takes place when each party is attempting to draft a final copy of the Contract based on negotiations from both the parties. Contract Redlining is vital:

• To keep a track of edits made by the parties to the Contract.
• To review, compare and keep the parties well-versed with the alterations made in the Contract.