Contract management – checklist for ending a contract
In most cases, contracts end naturally when the agreed obligations have been performed or the contract reaches its expiry date.
Before you part ways with the other party, make sure you've tied up any loose ends - it could save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run.
Use this housekeeping checklist to ensure any outstanding issues have been resolved:
☑ Satisfy yourself that the goods or services provided to you have met the contract requirements, i.e. have you got what you asked for?
☑ Confirm the return or destruction of any University documents, material or confidential information that were provided to the other party for the purposes of performing the contract.
☑ Arrange for return of any equipment or other goods made available by the University to the other party for the purposes of the contract.
☑ Record any intellectual property rights arising from the contract that the University gains ownership of (or a licence to use) pursuant to the contract, including any relevant documentation, technical data or reports that enable the University to use that intellectual property - see the Invention Disclosure Form.
☑ As far as possible, ensure that any outstanding issues that may later result in a claim against the University are resolved. Make sure you have notified any potential claims as they arise to the Legal and Risk Branch.
☑ Make all final payments payable under the contract or submit all final invoices.
☑ Where personnel of the other party have been granted access to University premises or IT systems, ensure all access rights are terminated and security passes returned.
☑ Update the Contracts Register to record when the contract was completed or terminated.
☑ Tidy up and archive the records associated with the contracting process in the University's recordkeeping system.
☑ Undertake any transitional steps prescribed in the contract (e.g. contracts relating to teaching activities may prescribe that the University continue to teach out students already enrolled as at the date of termination).
Please refer to this list of University contacts for advice about various contract types across the University.
This checklist is taken from the University's Contract Management Handbook. The Handbook is based on and contains some material reproduced or adapted from Developing and Managing Contracts – Better Practice Guide, published by the Australian National Audit Office and the Commonwealth Department of Finance and Administration, February 2007 © Commonwealth of Australia, reproduced by permission.