Resultant Contract

A resultant contract is a contract that is issued or entered into as the result of a procurement process, such as a supply arrangement or a solicitation. The term separates the procurement vehicle from the legally binding agreement that follows it. In Government of Canada documentation it appears in the singular form, "resultant contract," and it is not an abbreviation.

The Treasury Board Secretariat uses the term when it explains supply arrangements. A supply arrangement sets out the framework and the conditions, and its terms and conditions apply to each resultant contract. The contract is where the obligations between the government and the supplier take legal effect. Suppliers can read more in the Professional Audit Support Services frequently asked questions.

Resultant contract versus supply arrangement

A Canadian federal supply arrangement is not a contract. It does not legally bind either party. Instead, it is a procurement vehicle that gives a department or agency a pool of pre-screened suppliers and lets it solicit bids from that pool.

The arrangement also establishes a framework for the expeditious processing of legally binding contracts for goods or services. Those contracts are the resultant contracts. A supplier that holds a place on a supply arrangement has qualified to compete, but it has no contract until one is awarded under that arrangement.

How the term is used in the Professional Audit Support Services arrangement

The clearest federal example is the Professional Audit Support Services (PASS) program. PASS is a mandatory supply arrangement that gives federal departments and agencies access to qualified suppliers of audit and financial-management support services. The Office of the Comptroller General developed it with Public Works and Government Services Canada and other stakeholders.

• The supply arrangement is not a contract and does not legally bind either party.
• It provides the framework for processing legally binding contracts.
• Its terms and conditions apply to every resultant contract.
• It includes ceiling per-diem rates by resource category for each pre-qualified supplier.

Under PASS, then, the arrangement fixes the conditions and the rate ceilings, and each resultant contract is issued within them.

Where resultant contracts appear in federal procurement data

CanadaBuys is the authoritative source for Government of Canada tender information covered by the relevant publication requirements, as described in the open government dataset for tender notices. It also publishes contract-history data that includes contracts awarded by Public Services and Procurement Canada on behalf of federal departments and agencies. The CanadaBuys procurement and contracting data page and the contract history dataset on the Open Government portal list these records.

CanadaBuys data also treats standing offers and supply arrangements as procurement information categories. Standing offers are another federal vehicle under which a department may issue a contract or call-up when a requirement arises.

What a resultant contract means for a supplier

When a solicitation or supply arrangement states that a resultant contract may be awarded, the stated conditions govern. That includes the mandatory requirements, the evaluation method and the contract clauses that will apply to the resulting contract. A supplier should read these documents before bidding, because the supply arrangement terms carry through to each contract issued under it.

A resultant contract is legally binding, while the arrangement behind it is not. Qualifying on a supply arrangement gives a supplier the chance to be solicited, and the contract is what creates the commitment. Bid teams should price and plan against the terms that will apply to the contract, including any ceiling rates set in the arrangement.