The Contract will define some key dates for completion of specified milestones. Although these mainly relate to the Contractor's obligations there will be some cases where the Authority has to fulfil an obligation within a certain time. Without a system for extracting these dates and deadlines from the Contract and making them much more accessible to members of the Contract Management Team there will be a risk that an important deadline could be missed.
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Example Under the Contract the Authority is likely to have an obligation to issue a certificate under Section 3 of the Local Government (Contracts) Act 1997. If this is not done within a specified period from the date of the Contract (6 weeks in the WIDP Contract) the Contractor is entitled to terminate the Contract and receive compensation. |
The WIDP Contract (Schedule 8) includes a list of key dates which relate to the Transition Period and the Expiry Date. If the Authority's Contract lacks such a Schedule then it should be a high priority for the Contract Management Team to compile a summary of key dates that are important in terms of the overall programme or that have a contractual consequence if there is a delay. In any event the listing of key dates should be included in the Contract Management Manual and the dates reflected in the Transition Plan. For further see Appendix E (Key Dates and Time Limits).