Archived - Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions Manual - Using the SACC Manual

Remarks – Recommended Use of SACC Item

Legal text for SACC item

Table of Contents
 

How to use SACC Clauses

Reference clauses
Full text clauses
Copy and paste into a Word document


How the SACC Manual is organized

Section 1 - Standard Instructions
Section 2 - Templates
Section 3 and 4 - General Conditions and Supplemental General Conditions
Section 5 - Standard Procurement Clauses


Updates to the SACC Manual
SACC Manual Field Definitions
Ask questions - get help
Authority
 
The Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) Manual is intended to provide suppliers and clients of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) with information on clauses and conditions used by PWGSC Acquisitions Branch contracting officers in the contracting process for procuring goods and services on behalf of client departments. Its contents are referred to in bidding opportunities and contracting activities.
 
The SACC Manual is designed to make dealing with the government more time and cost efficient by reducing the level of detailed text contained within the various procurement documents.
 
In ensuring that all procurement activities are conducted in accordance with the Official Languages Act (OLA), all content within the SACC Manual is available in both official languages (French and English).
 
How to use SACC clauses
 
The following information provides guidance on how to use SACC clauses.
 
Reference clauses
 
Reference clauses are those clauses and conditions that bidders and suppliers must refer to the SACC Manual to obtain the full text. They are incorporated by reference in the solicitation or contractual document, as appropriate. Standard Instructions, General Conditions, Supplemental General Conditions and certain clauses are "incorporated by reference". The actual text in force in the contract is written out in full in the SACC Manual, rather than repeating them ad infinitum through all of the documents. This is done in part for reasons of economy and ecology. Procurement documents will contain references to specific standard instructions, general conditions and clauses which will apply to that particular requirement. Clause references will include the clause ID number, its effective date and its title (e.g. B1204C (2011-05-16) Shelf Life).
 
Full text clauses
 
Full text clauses are those  clauses where the complete clause text must be inserted in the  solicitation or the contractual document, as appropriate. Users must not insert full text clauses with either the date or the clause ID number as such would cause a potential conflict with the SACC clause, especially where changes to the full text clause may have been made.
 
Most full text clauses are fill-in clauses  that require the insertion of specific information by the contracting officer or the bidder/supplier (e.g. B7012T (2008-05-12) Pre-production Samples - Clothing).
 
Copy and Paste into a Word document
 
In order to retain the numbering system within the text of a clause, contracting officers should first copy and paste the clause into a Word document, then copy it from that Word document and paste it in their Word document or template by clicking the Paste Options icon and choosing the option "match destination formatting".
 
How the SACC Manual is organized 
 
The SACC Manual is organized to follow the progression of information presented in procurement documents.
 
The SACC Manual contains information on current clauses and general conditions as well as instructions on how these clauses and conditions are used.  The manual also contains a complete text of previous clauses and conditions which have been either cancelled or superseded.
 
The PWGSC Supply Manual must be read as a complementary document to the SACC Manual.
 
Section 1 - Standard Instructions
 
Standard instructions  are included in all solicitations (competitive and non-competitive).  The standard instructions to include is determined based on the nature of the solicitation method. The standard instructions are always incorporated by reference and form part of the solicitation document.
 
Supplemental standard instructions are also included in this section.
 
Section 2 - Templates
 
Public Works and Government Services Canada has implemented departmental standard procurement templates to facilitate the use of the Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) by the Acquisitions Branch contracting officers in their acquisition documents for the procurement of goods and services on behalf of client departments.
 
There are currently five procurement templates addressing the different methods of supply and complexity of solicitations for competitive and non-competitive procurements.
 
Sections 3 and 4 - General Conditions and Supplemental General Conditions 
 
Sections 3 and 4 present those sets of general conditions that will apply to and form part of any contract resulting from the solicitation which form the foundation upon which all procurement documents issued by PWGSC are built.
 
Section 3, General Conditions, defines the basic sets of conditions which apply to specific classes of contracts (e.g. 2035, General Conditions - Higher Complexity - Services).
 
Section 4, Supplemental General Conditions, addresses areas unique to specific subclasses of contracts (e.g. 4005, Telecommunications Services and Products). 
 
Each section within a General Conditions set has its own effective date.  The General Conditions set as a whole has an effective date which is determined by the latest revision date of one or more of its sections.
 
Section 5 - Standard Procurement Clauses
 
Section 5 contains a collection of procurement clauses, common to various classes of contracts.  The full text of individual clauses, incorporated by reference into a solicitation or contract by their number, effective date and title, can be found in this section of the Manual.  Each subsection (A to V) is devoted to a particular subject area.  Note that some subsections have not been assigned at this time.
 
Clauses may be identified by their numbers which break down as follows:
 

the first alphabetic character (A to Z) indicates the subsection in Section 5;
the four numeric characters (0000 to 9999) indicate the clause's position within the numeric sequence of the subsection;
the final alphabetic character (T or C) indicates the type of document in which a given clause would be used (i.e. T = Tender (Solicitation); C = Contract).
 
Example:	Clause C0004T, Price Certification - Canadian Agency and Resale Outlets.  This is the fourth clause found in subsection C - Price, of Section 5 and is used in solicitations.
 
Updates to the SACC Manual
 
SACC clauses and conditions are updated as required and future solicitations and contracts will incorporate the new ones.  This does not affect existing solicitations and contractual documents which reference an item by ID Number and date, unless specifically amended by the contracting authority in a solicitation amendment or contract amendment.
 
SACC Manual Field Definitions
 
The following is a definition list of the data fields used to present information from the Standard Instructions, Conditions and Clauses.
 

Item Title
This element contains the title of a SACC item.
ID
This element refers to a SACC item's unique identification consisting of a sequence of characters and/or digits.  The first digit identifies the SACC Manual Section, referred to as the Parent Section.
Effective Date
The date on which a SACC item becomes in effect.
Parent Section
The section  of the  Manual that the item belongs to; e.g. Section 1 -  Standard Instructions,  Section 5 - Standard Procurement Clauses and relevant subsection, e.g. 5A.
SACC Manual Item Status
The status of a SACC item must be one of the following:

Active: the item is currently in effect
Superseded: the item has been replaced by another
Cancelled: the item has been cancelled


SACC Manual Item Usage
The usage of an item is either "reference" or "full text". Reference clauses are those SACC clauses and conditions that bidders and suppliers must refer to the SACC Manual to obtain the full text.  Full text clauses are those SACC Clauses where the complete clause text must be inserted in the solicitation or the contractual document. Most full text clauses are fill-in clauses that require the insertion of specific information.
Revision History
Revision History of a SACC Manual item can be found in chronological order. Users can sort the revision history of an item by "Status", "ID", "Date", "Title", "Superseded by".  The revision history provides details about the historical changes made to  an item, e.g.  each time an item has been replaced (superseded) by another one, which revision date has been cancelled.
Remarks
Remarks are provided for many items and especially for clauses. These remarks are intended to provide contracting officers with instructions that are associated with the recommended use of an item.  The use of a particular item in bid solicitations, contracts, standing offers or supply arrangements is determined by the contracting officer after an examination of the specific requirement and any special circumstances which surround it.
Text
This field contains the legal text of a SACC item.
 
Ask questions - get help
 
For more information or if you require further assistance, please use the Procurement Policy Contact web form.
 
Authority
 
Sections 20 and 21 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act provide the necessary contracting powers of the Minister, including the power to fix terms and conditions of contracts, and instructions, terms and conditions with respect to other documents relating to contracts and their formation. Section 22  of the Act gives the Minister the power to incorporate contractual clauses by reference.