Edit communication templates

Note For a contract-level communication template, certain fields (as indicated below) can only be edited when a communication template is in a Draft state or if it has been Published but is not In Use (i.e. if it has not yet been used to create a communication).

The following users can edit communication templates:

• Organization Best Practice Library: users with the Maintain Organisation Best Practice Library permission

• Business unit Best Practice Library: users with one of the following sets of permissions:

  • the Manage Business Unit Best Practice Library permission for the business unit

  • the Access Across Business Units AND the Manage Business Unit Best Practice Library permission

• Project/dept Best Practice Library: the Project Administrator

• Contract Configuration: users with the following contract roles:

  • Contract Owner

  • Contract Administrator

  • Contract Process Owner

  • Company Representative

To edit a communication template:

1. Navigate to the Best Practice Library for the Organization, business unit or project/dept, or the Contract Configuration page.

2. Select the Communication Templates tab.

   The Communication Templates page is displayed.

3. Click the drop-down arrow for the template you want to edit, and select Edit Details from the menu.

   The Edit Communication Template page is displayed.

4. Edit the information as required in the relevant fields.

   Reference settings

   Field	Description
   Reference Code Generation Type	Select Automatic or Manual as the reference code generation type. Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use.
   Reference Number Seed	If you selected Automatic for the Reference Code Generation Type, enter the value for the reference number seed. Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use. This is the value of the reference code for the first communication to be created from this communication template. The reference code will be incremented by one each time a new communication is created from the template.

   General information

   Field	Description
   Title	The name of the communication template.
   Abbreviation	The abbreviation of the name of the communication template. Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use.
   Description	A description of the template. Note This is a Rich Text field; use the buttons on the field toolbar to add formatting to the text.
   Routing Path	Select the routing path for this type of communication: Contractor to Company, Company to Contractor or Company to Company (Internal Correspondence). Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use. (See Communication routing paths for more information.)
   Communication Owner	Select the contract role which owns the communication: Contract Owner, Contract Administrator or Company Representative. (See Contract roles for more information.)
   Allow File Attachments	Select if document attachments are allowed for the communication.
   Default File Status	The default status for any attachments on this type of communication: Non-confidential or Confidential.
   Required Response	Select if the type of response required from the recipient: None Agreement Only Agreement and Reply Reply Only For example, the contractor can send a communication to the company which must be agreed or not agreed (Agreement Only).
   Process Time Limit (Days)	Displayed only if a response is required. The number of days in which the communication must be responded to after it is issued.
   Process Time Limit Type	Displayed only if a response is required. Select whether the time limit is a Target or Deadline. Note For the Contractor Portal, the time in which the company has to respond to a Contractor to Company communication is only displayed if the Process Time Limit Type is Deadline. The times for Company to Contractor communications are always displayed.

   Obligation information

   Displayed only if a response is required. When a communication based on this communication template is sent by the company or contractor, an associated obligation will be created with the following information.

   See Contract obligations for more information.

   Field	Description
   Obligation Title	The title of the obligation. This will be prefixed with the the reference of the initiating communication.
   Clause	The contract clause that contains the obligation (if relevant).
   Obligation Text	The text of the contract obligation. You can paste text into this field, for example from the contract document. Note This is a Rich Text field; use the buttons on the field toolbar to add formatting to the text.

   Custom fields

   See Custom field templates for more information.

   Field	Description
   Reorder	Click in this column and drag the custom fields to change the order in which they are displayed.
   Include	Select for the custom fields you want to include in the communication.
   Mandatory	Select if the custom field must have a value. This is pre-selected if the custom field template defines the custom field as mandatory, but can be overwritten.
   Always Editable	Select to allow the value of the custom field to be edited regardless of the state of the communication, i.e. so that it can be edited when the communication is no longer in Draft.

   Financial and schedule impact

   Field	Description
   Record Progress	Only for templates with a Routing Path of Contractor to Company. Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use. Select whether the communication will record progress against contract deliverables. See Progress communications for more information.
   Is Expenditure	Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use. Select if the communication is expenditure: Yes for expenditure or No for commitment. You should only select Yes for both Is Expenditure and Record Progress for the first expenditure communication in any planned process chain; in other words, the expenditure communication which will have progress communications linked to it (for example, an Application for Payment communication). See Expenditure communications for information about the expenditure types that can be recorded if Yes is selected.
   Consumes Line Items	Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use. Only available if Is Expenditure is set to Yes. Select Yes if any line items on communications created from this template will be included in the line item's consumed value once the communication is Agreed or Approved. Note Line items will be consumed by all communications in a process chain that have Consumes Line Items set to Yes. To avoid incorrect consumption values, ensure that only one communication template in the planned process chain has this option set to Yes.
   Record Financial Values	Select whether a financial impact value will be recorded for the communication. If No is set for Is Expenditure, select the options as appropriate: No, Yes - Optional or Yes - Required. Cannot be edited if Yes is set for Is Expenditure. Yes - Optional is automatically selected and no other option is available.
   Record Schedule Values	Select whether a schedule impact value will be recorded for the communication. This value is for reporting purposes only and does not directly affect the contract's Planned End Date. Cannot be edited if Yes is set for Record Progress. No is automatically selected and no other option is available.

   The following tables detail how the communication template affects how progress and financial values are added to communications. See Edit the core details of a communication for details of when a communication is in an editable state.

   Contract has line items

   Record Progress	Is Expenditure	Record Financial Values	Communication Template Reporting Category	How financial values are entered
   No	No	No	Not applicable	No progress or financial values are recorded.
   Yes	No	No	Not applicable	Progress can be recorded on the Progress tab against line items which have progress measures, after the communication has been saved in an editable state. See Progress communications.
   No	Yes	Yes - Optional	Not applicable	Expenditure values and line items are managed on the Expenditure tab, after the communication has been saved in an editable state. The communication cannot be linked to progress communications. See Expenditure communications.
   Yes	Yes	Yes - Optional	Not applicable	Expenditure values and line items are managed on the Expenditure tab, after the communication has been saved in an editable state. The communication can be linked to progress communications. See Expenditure communications.
   No	No	Yes	Maps communications to Change reporting categories	Commitment change values which apply to line items are added on the Change tab, after the communication has been saved in an editable state. See Commitment change line items.
   No	No	Yes	Does not map communications to Change reporting categories	A single value can be added as the Financial Impact of the communication on the Create a Communication page or when editing a communication.

   Contract does not have line items

   Record Progress	Is Expenditure	Record Financial Values	Communication Template Reporting Category	How financial values are entered
   Not applicable	No	No	Not applicable	No progress or financial values are recorded. Note Progress can only be recorded against line items.
   No	Yes	Yes - Optional	Not applicable	Expenditure values are managed on the Expenditure tab, after the communication has been saved in an editable state. The communication cannot be linked to progress communications. See Expenditure values.
   Yes	Yes	Yes - Optional	Not applicable	Expenditure values are managed on the Expenditure tab, after the communication has been saved in an editable state. The communication can be linked to progress communications but the progress communications cannot have progress values because they can only be recorded against line items. See Expenditure values.
   No	No	Yes	Maps communications to Change reporting categories	A single commitment change value can be added as the Financial Impact of the communication on the Create a Communication page or when editing a communication. See Commitment change values.
   No	No	Yes	Does not map communications to Change reporting categories	A single value can be added as the Financial Impact of the communication on the Create a Communication page or when editing a communication.

   Best practice

   Field	Description
   Available To	For communication templates created in an Organization, business unit or project/dept Best Practice Library, select the types of contract that the template will be available for: Standard Contract, Framework Agreement or Call Off.
   Communication Preparation Guidelines	The guidelines for creating the communication from this template. Note This is a Rich Text field; use the buttons on the field toolbar to add formatting to the text.
   Next Steps After Issuing	The guidelines for what should happen to the communication after it is sent. Note This is a Rich Text field; use the buttons on the field toolbar to add formatting to the text.
   Communication Template Reporting Category	Select a reporting category or None. Cannot be edited for a contract-level template if it is In Use. The communication template reporting category determines how the communication's reporting category changes when its state is updated, e.g. an approved Variation Proposal has a different communication reporting category to an approved Variation Order. See Communication reporting categories for more information.

5. Click Save as Draft to save the communication template in the Draft state.(This is only available if the communication template has not been previously published.)

6. Click Save as Published to make the communication template available for use. A confirmation message is displayed. Click OK if you are sure you want to publish the communication template.

   The Communication Templates page is displayed.