SACC (Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions)

SACC stands for Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions. In Canadian federal procurement, the SACC Manual was Public Services and Procurement Canada's collection of standard instructions, templates, general conditions, supplemental conditions and procurement clauses. Contracting officers used it when writing bid solicitations, contracts, standing offers and supply arrangements. CanadaBuys hosts the archived manual.

SACC is a Government of Canada procurement term, not a NATO terminology term. The manual was administered through PSPC, formerly Public Works and Government Services Canada. Federal contracting officers selected clauses from it according to the requirement and the circumstances of each purchase. The manual stopped being maintained in June 2023, but the clauses it contained still appear in many solicitations and contracts.

What the SACC Manual contained

The manual was a library rather than a single contract. It brought together the wording that federal buyers needed to assemble a solicitation or a contract. Its content covered:

• standard procurement clauses;
• general and supplemental contract conditions;
• bid-solicitation instructions and templates;
• financial security provisions;
• pricing and audit provisions;
• standing offers and supply arrangements; and
• defence-related contract-cost provisions, including SACC 1031-2.

Each clause carried recommended-use remarks. PSPC's manual guidance states that SACC clauses may be used in bid solicitations, contracts, standing offers or supply arrangements. It also states that the contracting officer decides whether to use a particular clause after examining the specific requirement and any special circumstances.

Where SACC clauses appeared in federal procurement

PSPC used the manual when preparing federal bid solicitations and contracts, and the same clause library supported standing offers and supply arrangements. Several areas of practice drew directly on it.

• Professional-services supply arrangements: PSPC assessor guidance states that, except for ProServices and Temporary Help Services, bid solicitations for supply-arrangement methods of supply must use the High Complexity Bid Solicitation and Resulting Contract Template available in the SACC Manual.
• Defence procurement: SACC 1031-2 was referenced in a review of contract-cost principles, where it governed allowable contract costs and was particularly relevant to defence work.
• Pricing and audit clauses: PSPC's procurement pricing guide refers to new basis-of-payment, incentive and audit clauses developed from the SACC framework.

Archived status and the Standard Contract Clause inventory

The SACC Manual was no longer maintained as of June 2023. Clauses that were previously marked "Active" in the manual now show as archived. Archiving does not cancel anything: contracts issued with SACC Manual clauses remain valid, and the clause numbers and wording continue to govern those contracts.

CanadaBuys identifies the Standard Contract Clause inventory as the replacement for the SACC Manual. Buyers and suppliers can find current clause information through the CanadaBuys contract clauses page. Suppliers who see a clause reference in a solicitation, such as a document listing applicable SACC clauses, are looking at wording that originated in the archived manual.

What SACC means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Read and comply with the specific SACC clauses incorporated into the solicitation or the resulting contract. Do not assume that every SACC clause applies, because the contracting officer chooses the clauses that fit the requirement. When a clause is cited by number, look it up in the archived manual to read its full text. For new solicitations, check the Standard Contract Clause inventory on CanadaBuys. Existing contracts that incorporate SACC clauses stay in force with their original wording, so bid teams managing older contracts, standing offers or supply arrangements still need to know the clause references they contain.