Task Authorization Ceiling

A task authorization ceiling is the maximum dollar amount that may be authorized for an individual task authorization (TA) under a contract. It caps what the client's designated authority can approve on its own for a single task. Anything above that amount needs additional approval before the work can proceed.

Canadian federal contracts usually word this as the "task authorization limit" or the client's authorization limit. The contract sets the figure, and a TA that exceeds it must be sent to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) for authorization, as the CanadaBuys guidance on task authorizations explains.

How the limit works in a task authorization contract

Task authorization contracts are a method of supply. A framework contract sets the general scope and terms, and individual TAs then define specific work, deliverables, resources and prices. The ceiling controls who can approve each of those individual tasks.

CanadaBuys guidance states that when a client is allowed to authorize TAs, the contract must establish a maximum dollar amount for an individual TA, including applicable taxes. The same guidance on choosing a method of supply notes that PSPC may issue TAs that exceed the client's limit.

The Government of Canada's Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions Manual contains a clause that lets a Project Authority or Technical Authority authorize individual TAs up to a specified amount. A TA above that amount must be authorized by the Contracting Authority, or by both the project or technical authority and the Contracting Authority, as the contract specifies.

Ceiling versus ceiling price and limitation of expenditure

Three similar terms appear in task authorization contracts, and they measure different things.

• Task authorization limit (the ceiling): the maximum value the client's designated authority may approve for one TA.
• Ceiling price: the maximum amount payable under a particular authorized TA. Under the standard clause wording, Canada's liability under an authorized TA must not exceed the ceiling price stated in that TA.
• Limitation of expenditure: the maximum cumulative liability under the contract or a specified set of TAs.

The ceiling governs approval authority. The ceiling price and the limitation of expenditure govern what Canada can be required to pay.

Examples from published Canadian contracts

Published solicitations show how the limit is written in practice. One refrigeration services solicitation on CanadaBuys lets the Project Authority approve individual TAs up to $25,000. Higher-value TAs require approval from the Contracting Authority.

A published Department of National Defence task authorization framework uses the DND 626 form and sets an approval threshold of $150,000 for the Procurement Authority. Tasks above that amount require written authorization from both the Procurement Authority and the PSPC Contracting Authority.

The thresholds differ from contract to contract, so each contract's own wording governs.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Read the TA authorization clause in every task-based solicitation. It tells you who can approve a task, up to what value, and who must approve anything larger. Plan your project timelines around that approval path, because larger tasks take longer to authorize.

• Do not begin work under a TA until it has been issued and signed by the authorities the contract requires.
• Confirm the proposed work falls within the contract's scope.
• Check that the TA value, including revisions and applicable taxes where specified, stays within the applicable limit.
• Obtain the additional approval when a TA exceeds the client or project authority limit.
• Keep the total of all authorized TAs within the contract's limitation of expenditure.
• Treat the TA's ceiling price or limitation of expenditure as the most you can be paid for that task. Extra work or cost needs an authorized amendment.