Pass the CIPS CIPS Level 4 Diploma in Procurement and Supply L4M3 Questions and answers with CertsForce

The five essential elements of a valid contract are: offer, acceptance, consideration (something of value exchanged), capacity (legal ability to contract), and correct form (in writing if required). These ensure that contracts are legally enforceable and binding.

There are number of reasons why the purchaser will want to control the supplier's subcontracting:

- Supply chain transparency: Normally the purchaser has invested a lot of effort into selecting the right contractor. However, the main contractor's selection of subcontractor might not be in such careful manner, which may result in poor performance. Purchaser must know who subcontractors are. Controlling the subcontracting process can help the purchaser control the outcome.

- Contract terms: the purchaser's requirements must be reflected in the subcontracts. The subcontracting clauses may require the main contractor to do this.

- Liability: the main contractor may subcontract the whole or a part of its liabilities. Subcontracting clause may bind the contractor to be liable with the work, it cannot just blame the subcontractor for any faults.

The contract provision that relieves the parties from performing their contractual obligations when certain circumstances like natural disasters, terrorist attacks, etc arise is called Force majeure. Force majeure is an example of exclusion clause.

An exemption clause in a contract is a term which either limits or excludes a party’s liability for a breach of contract. In order for an exclusion clause to be binding and operable upon the parties, the clause must:

1. The clause must be incorporated into the contract as a term.

2. The clause must pass the test of construction.

3. The clause must not be rendered unenforceable by the statutory provisions in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 or the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (enacting the Consumer Rights Bill 2013-14).

ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work was adopted in 1948. The Declaration commits Member States to respect and promote principles and rights in four categories, whether or not they have ratified the relevant Conventions.

These categories are: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced or compulsory labour, the abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

An implied term is a term which the courts imply into a contract because it has not been expressly included by the parties. This may be because the parties did not consider it, did not think that any problem would arise in relation to it or simply omitted to include it.

The courts are very reluctant to imply terms into contracts and will only do so in the following circumstances:

- terms implied under statute

- terms implied under common law

- terms implied because of custom or usage

- terms implied due to previous dealings

- terms implied ‘in fact’ or to reflect the parties’ intentions

Normally in a price adjustment agreement, the supplier is allowed to change price based on an indexation, which is published by a third party (for example, government or exchange market). The selected indices often associate with input materials of supplier. For instance, the plastics manufacturer may adjust their price based on crude oil price as oil is major input of producing plastics. Other suppliers may select different set of indices, such as Producer Perception Index.

In this question, only 'Rise in fuel price' could be a justification for supplier to increase price because:

- It may affect the input material price

- The index is checked and published by an independent third party.

Supplier performance management and monitoring is a fundamental part of contract management. It starts with setting KPIs, targets and consequences or actions that arise from KPI scores. The measures, objectives and targets used in the monitoring of the supplier’s performance must reflect those that were agreed when the contract was let. That is why it is important to specify a commitment to continuous improvement at the outset. It would be unfair to the supplier to suddenly introduce a range of measures after the contract had begun - however if such an introduction mid-term through the contract is unavoidable then it should be negotiated and agreed in a professional manner and not merely imposed on the supplier.

In conclusion, the details of how KPIs will be monitored and the actions or consequences resulting from scores achieved must be documented and agreed between the parties. This details may be embedded in the specification or the main body of the contract or it may be set out in a SLA.

A service-level agreement (SLA) is a commitment between a service provider and a client. Particular aspects of the service – quality, availability, responsibilities – are agreed between the service provider and the service user. The most common component of an SLA is that the services should be provided to the customer as agreed upon in the contract.

A customer service charter is a document that outlines how an organization promises to work with its customers along with providing insights into how an organization operates.

A service guarantee is a marketing tool service firms have increasingly been using to reduce consumer risk perceptions, signal quality, differentiate a service offering, and to institutionalize and professionalize their internal management of customer complaint and service recovery.

A purchase order is a document sent from a buyer to a seller, with a request to order a product. The purchase order often has its number, description and quantity of the goods, unit prices and total price, name of issuer, time of delivery, standard terms and conditions, etc. It is effectively an offer to supplier. The purchase order will become a formal contract if supplier accepted it by written notice or by performance (such as deliver the goods to the buyer's premise).

Early market dialogue is used to explore supplier capabilities and gather ideas, particularly in complex or innovative services. Discussing service innovation with suppliers helps the buyer shape better specifications and outcomes. Topics like pricing and contract terms should remain within formal procurement stages to ensure fairness.