• Planning and drafting of contracts; • Identification and preparedness for risk issues; • Preparation of documentation; • Contract approval; • Performance monitoring • Coping with changes; and • Expiration (whether due to expiration, termination or otherwise) Changes to the scope of the contract and the like will affect the price as well as what needs to be delivered. Any changes to agreements should be well thought out and carefully documented, preferably in accordance with an express provision of the basic contract. Regardless of the title of this document, the key point for changing the contract management framework focuses on the period during which the contract begins. That is, the contract does not begin when it has been secured or executed, but when it is arranged. According to the IACCM, 90% of companies in the banking, financial and insurance sectors recognize the importance of effective contract and relationship management after award. The post-award phase deals with frequent changes due to uncertainty and performance management. This phase ensures that you manage contract changes correctly. It focuses your attention on follow-up to ensure that all the requirements of your agreement are met throughout the duration of the written commitment. You must also track and implement changes to contracts. Contractual procedures, contractual terms and contract management cannot be pursued on the basis of the old Australian proverb “she will be the right companion”.
Our client was aware of this. The subcontractor was aware of this. At both the Commonwealth and country levels, there are various policy documents and publications related to contract management. Without a system that works well, it`s pretty easy to miss an important date. It`s easy to overlook an important commitment in the contract that is important to all parties. This is where an effective contract management system comes into play. The post-agreement phase is just as important, if not more so, than the pre-contractual phase. At this point, you have a signed contract and obligations and must comply with the terms of the contract and act accordingly. Tasks at this stage include the preparation and agreement of payment terms and evaluations, so that payment is received in accordance with the terms of the Purchse order and in accordance with the terms of the contract. First, the parties have defined their needs, the essential elements and the key aspects of the agreement. Then they sketch out the details. This was the pre-contractual phase.
After that, an agreement was reached and the terms of the contract are clearly defined. Finally, the parties negotiated, signed and agreed on the various details. Only then does the third phase of contract management come into play – the post-contract phase. It starts as soon as the parties have met with their teams. Therefore, it involves performance monitoring, quality assurance, repair and maintenance of contract documentation. Many years ago, the company I was a partner of at the time sent me to Hong Kong under the name “Our Man in Hong Kong”. One of the many things I learned there was that the Chinese attitude to the treaty was very different from what we adhered to with a common law tradition. While ordinary lawyers viewed contracts as anything but set in stone, the Chinese perspective was much more of a fluid and enduring relationship. Contracts can take many different forms.
Oral contracts can be concluded, but especially in the context of public procurement, oral contracts and their management raise much more difficult questions as to whether or not what is agreed and what the terms of the contract are. They are much more difficult to manage, mainly because there is little or no evidence of the actual terms of the contract. But any contract can be as simple as a written letter of offer and a signed acceptance or even an acceptance by behavior. The Government Information Provision Act (GIPA) deals in detail with the government`s obligations, what is possible and how it can disclose information about contracts. This document is not the place for a detailed discussion of the faith/GIPA commitments, but they do exist. When managing a contract affected by FOI/GIPA, I recommend that you work closely with your agency`s FOI/GIPA team. For example, if the federal government funds a state agency that then undertakes work through its employees or contractors, which may include other state governments, businesses, and individuals who may all contribute to their own pre-existing intellectual property and/or contribution to intellectual property in everything that is produced, it was necessary to ensure that intellectual property issues were dealt with adequately. It is more than surprising to see how insufficiently planned the terms of payment are. To the extent possible, I recommend linking the payment obligation to an objective event or milestone and/or the achievement of the specified measurable contractual performance requirement. Try to avoid contracts that include an obligation to pay with reference to an interest rate, but do not contain any actual parameters for the price and no mechanism for terminating the relationship and the obligation to pay. Attaching or extracting an offer can help to be tied to fees.
Expenses and costs can be an unwanted costly addition if not properly provided. Try to exclude them if possible. If they cannot be excluded, look for a disposition to manage them by requiring approval before they occur. Sometimes it is possible to limit the obligation to pay so that the obligation does not occur, unless the public purchaser is satisfied that the goods or services supplied meet the requirements of the contract. In that case, the relevant contract and checklist should make explicit reference to the time limit within which a deadline for rejection of receipt must be respected and communicated to the contractor in order to ensure compliance. This issue of procurement to ensure that one is able to meet one`s resource obligations under a contract may seem relatively explicit. However, I am constantly confused about contracts that involve work over several years and have no real connection to the availability of funds to enable the implementation and payment of the project. To answer this question, imagine that your team gets a significant deal. What do you do next? If you drop it and forget about it, it may not quite provide the expected value.. .