Risk Management Advisory Services (RMAS)

Risk Management Advisory Services (RMAS) is the advisory function within Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), now Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Contracting officers consult it when they set contractual liability and insurance requirements. It appears in the federal Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions Manual, which publishes the standard clauses used in federal contracts.

The same function also appears as Risk Management and Insurance Advisory Services, and the contact references use the form Risk Management Insurance Advisory Services. All three names point to the same role. It is an internal government advisory service, not a supplier certification and not a deliverable that a supplier provides.

Where the term appears in federal contract clauses

The term appears in archived PWGSC standard clauses on insurance and liability. These clauses give contracting officers suggested limits of liability and tell them what to do when a suggested limit does not fit the contract. In that situation, the contracting officer is directed to consult Risk Management Advisory Services. The clause text is available in the archived clause on CanadaBuys.

Liability limits and the role of the advisory service

• The archived clauses identify suggested minimum limits of $1 million, $2 million and $10 million per accident or occurrence, depending on the circumstances of the contract. One insurance provision suggests $2,000,000 per accident or occurrence (see the clause on CanadaBuys).
• The clauses state that liability limits are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
• Where the suggested limit is not adequate, an alternative limit is established in consultation with the PWGSC advisory service.
• The function applies to contracts that carry insurance requirements and limitation-of-liability provisions.

The advisory service therefore sits behind the clauses. A supplier sees only the result: the liability limit and insurance coverage written into the solicitation or contract.

How RMAS differs from the NATO Risk Management Advisor role

The name is easy to confuse with a similar title in NATO procurement. A NATO Joint Warfare Centre solicitation uses the title Risk Management Advisor. That role is a contractor who serves as the risk-management focal point and advises work streams on risk management. It is a staffing role inside a project. The Canadian Risk Management Advisory Services is a government advisory function that supports contracting officers, and the NATO solicitation does not call its role RMAS.

NATO also maintains NATOTerm, its official terminology database. The NATOTerm result reviewed does not display an entry for Risk Management Advisory Services.

What RMAS means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

RMAS is not a category you bid on, and it is not a credential you need to hold. Its effect reaches you through the insurance and liability clauses in a solicitation. Read those clauses closely, because the limits and coverage required for a given procurement are set in that procurement's own documents. Those limits may differ from the suggested figures in the standard clauses, since they are assessed case by case. If a required limit looks unusual, raise it with the contracting authority through the question period on the tender notice. Check your current coverage against the stated requirements before you submit, so that any gap can be closed before contract award.