4. Prior to the signature of the contract all acquisition projects shall have a plan (the "Contract Management Plan" or "CMP") that sets out the plan for the management of the contract, for use by commercial and project management staff, senior managers and those involved in the assurance and approval of the project.
5. Following the signature of the contract, or very soon afterwards, the contract management team should have a suite of documents (the "Operational Contract Management Manual" or "OCMM") for use by the Contract Management Team that sets out the instructions, policies, information, and guidance that govern the day-to-day management of the contract.
6. The CMP should describe and define, with increasing levels of detail and maturity through each stage in the acquisition:
• the organisation structure of stakeholders, their responsibilities for the management of the contract, their governance arrangements and the resources necessary to effectively manage the contract;
• the risks, opportunities and benefits that contract management activities and resources are intended to manage;
• the method of managing the delivery of the contractual outputs, monitoring the contractor's performance and compliance with the requirements of the contract and its terms;
• the approach to partnering with the contractor and how it will be measured and managed; and
• how the plans for the management of the contract will be developed and implemented.
7. The OCMM (which should be based on the CMP at Main Gate Approval) should additionally set out:
• A summary of the key principles and output of the operation of the Contract;
• the organisation structure of the Contract Management Team and the structure and means of liaison and communication between the MOD and the Contractor
• the instructions, policies, guidance for the day-to-day management of the contract by the Contract Management Team;
• the key dates and/trigger events contained in the Contract (e.g. for delivery, acceptance, the review of documentation, the service of notices e.t.c.);
• the processes defined in the Contract (e.g. invoicing) and collaborative working practices with the Contractor with process maps and diagrams;
• the details of the methods and processes for the administration of the contract (e.g. for the processing of invoices, orders, requests for modifications/changes to services, amendments to the Contract e.t.c.)
8. The following local and Central Government publications provide authoritative guidance on Contract Management:
"Good Practice Contract Management Framework", Office of Government Commerce, December 2008
"Operational Task Force Note 2: Project Transition Guidance", HM Treasury, March 2007