Introduction A contract is a legal binding agreement that can be enforceable and confers obligations to the parties involved. Parties to the contract are those who are given responsibilities by the contractual terms or those who make promises in exchange of consideration.” (koffman and Macdonald, 2007, p. 475). The question is will the obligation to the contract be assigned? In general, an obligation under a contract cannot be assigned without the consent of the other contracting party. In Tolhurst v Associated Portland Cement Ltd , it was held that the liabilities of a contract cannot be shifted off the shoulders of the contractor on to those of another without the consent of the contractee. A debtor cannot be relieved of his liability to his creditor by assigning it to someone else, except by the consent of all the three. However, a transfer of liabilities may occur in the following ways:   * By novation: It is the recession of the original contract and the substitution of a new one in which the obligations under the original contract are undertaken by new parties voluntarily. In this case the old contract is discharged and there is a substitution of anew contract (Macdonald and Koffman, 2007, p. 476)   * By vicarious performance : It is open to the parties to have their contract performed vicariously by another person, provided the contract does not expressly or implicitly insist on the performance of the contract by the promisor himself. In the absence of any such condition in the contract, the promisee must accept the work done by a third party if it has been carried out in accordance with the terms of the contract. But even in such cases, the promisor remains liable under the contract because vicarious performance in its application is similar to the law of agency i.e. the principal remains liable to the third party, and the agent does not incur any liability. In this type of arrangement, the original parties remain liable to each other for all practical purposes. The vicarious performance is not permissible where the contract is to render personal services or personal performance by the promisor is the essence of the contract (Redfern, 2004, p. 278). Sand Diego Case A third party can be defined as a legal entity that is other than the principal parties to a contract or transaction or an agreement. Sec 1 of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 provides definition of a third party though the rights that have been assigned to him under a contractual term. “…a person who is not a party to a contract (a “third party”) may in his own right enforce a term of the contract if—   * the contract expressly provides that he may, or   * Subject to subsection (2), the term purports to confer a benefit on him. …   * The third party must be expressly identified in the contract by name, as a member of a class or as answering a particular description but need not be in existence when the contract is entered into.   * This section does not confer a right on a third party to enforce a term of a contract otherwise than subject to and in accordance with any other relevant terms of the contract.   * For the purpose of exercising his right to enforce a term of the contract, there shall be available to the third party any remedy that