Delegation: Definition, Example and Related Terms

Delegation is like asking someone else to do your chores. In the world of contracts, it means giving some of your tasks or responsibilities to another person or company. Imagine you're a kid who's supposed to clean your room, but you ask your sibling to do it instead. That's delegation. But instead of chores, we're talking about duties that are part of a contract. For example, a company might have a contract to build a house, but they delegate the plumbing work to another company. That's because the first company is good at building houses, but not so good at plumbing. So, they delegate the plumbing to experts who can do a better job.

Here's an interesting fact: Delegation is not the same as completely giving away your responsibilities. If you delegate something, you're still ultimately responsible for it. So, if something goes wrong with the plumbing in our example, the first company could still be held accountable because they were the ones who had the original contract to build the house.