Create related communications

You can reply to a communication in AVEVA Contract Risk Management by creating a related communication. For example, you can reply to a Minutes of Meeting communication from the company by creating a Variation Request.

If the communication has a required response of Reply Only or Agreement and Reply, the reply requirement is fulfilled by creating a related communication and marking it as a reply. See Respond to a communication for more information.

Note If the communication templates of the communications to be linked do not support the same type of financial values (Expenditure or not Expenditure), you can only add the communications to stories.

Note You cannot create related communications from progress communications.

Only users with the following contract roles can reply to a communication:

• Contractor Representative

• Contractor Administrator

• Contractor Information Management - can only reply to communications which do not have financial values, confidential custom fields or confidential documents, and cannot create financial associations

To create a related communication:

1. On the communication register, click the Title of the communication you want to reply to.

   The Communication Details page is displayed.

2. Click the Create Related Communication button and select the communication template for the reply.

   Note Contractor Information Management users cannot select communication templates which contain financial values or confidential custom fields.

   The Create a Communication page is displayed.

3. If it is displayed, complete the pages of the wizard as required. Depending on the types of communication being linked, not all pages are displayed.

   Click Next and Previous to move between pages.

   Page	Displayed If	Options
   Choose Type of Link	Both communications have financial values of the same type (commitment change or expenditure)	Select the type of link you want to create: Create a Financial Association - Add the new communication to a story AND create a financial association with the communication you are linking to. Create a General Association - Add the new communication to a story.
   Choose Direction of Link	Create a Financial Association was selected on the Choose Type of Link page	Select the direction of the financial association. The predecessor is displayed on the left and the successor on the right. The information displayed for each communication shows any changes to the financial values (including line items) and reporting categories which will occur when the link is made. Click the Change Direction button to swap the predecessor and successor.
   Choose a Story Group	Always	Select the story you want to add the new communication to. Story options are: Add both communications to a new story. If the existing communication already belongs to one or more stories, add the new communication to one of these stories.

4. Click Finish.

   The Create a Communication page is displayed.

   The story and financial association, if any, are displayed in the Add Linked Communications section.

5. If a financial association is created, the financial impact value from the communication you are replying to is added to the Financial Impact field (if this is displayed for this communication type). This field shows the sum of any financial value already specified for the communication, plus the financial values copied from the linked communication:

   • For communications which are not configured as Expenditure and have a single Financial Impact value, this can be edited before the communication is sent.

     If the communication has commitment change values, these are copied from the communication you are replying to, and can be viewed and updated once the new communication has been saved in as Draft.

   • If both communications are configured as Expenditure, the expenditure values and any line items are copied from the communication you are replying to, and can be viewed and updated once the new communication has been saved as Draft. The Financial Impact cannot be edited.

     Note If the communications have different currencies, the copied financial impact value is converted to the base currency of the reply communication, using the currency rates specified for the contract.

     Both the original and converted values are shown in the Add Linked Communications section.

     If the currency of the new communication is later changed, only the financial impact values due to line items are recalculated.

     If the communication you are replying to had a schedule impact value, this is added to the Schedule Impact field (if this is displayed for this communication type).

6. Enter information as required in the relevant fields.

   Field	Description
   Title	The title of the communication. By default, this is the title of the communication you are responding to, and can be edited as required.
   Description	A description for the communication, e.g. a message to the recipient. Note This is a Rich Text field; use the buttons on the field toolbar to add formatting to the text.
   Communication Owner	The owner of the communication. Set by default according to the communication template. Click the link to see the details of the user.
   From	The recipient of the communication. Set by default according to the communication template. Click the link to see the details of the user.
   To	The sender of the communication. Set by default according to the communication template. Click the link to see the details of the user.
   Communication Preparation Guidelines	The guidelines for creating and sending the communication. Set by default according to the communication template.
   Next Steps After Issuing	The guidelines for what should happen once the communication has been sent. Set by default according to the communication template.
   Originated On	The date on which the communication was created. The default is the current date.

7. Enter values for any custom fields.

8. Depending on the communication template, you can add financial and schedule values if you are a Contractor Representative or Contractor Administrator user.

   If the communication template has been configured as Expenditure, the Financial Impact field is visible but a value cannot be manually entered. To add expenditure financial values, you must save the communication as Draft - see Progress, expenditure and change communications for more information.

   If the communication template supports commitment change values, you can enter these once the communication has been saved as Draft.

   To add financial and schedule values:

   1. If the contract has more than one currency, you can select a Currency.

   2. If the field is displayed, enter the value of the Financial Impact in the communication currency.

   3. If the field is displayed, enter the value of the Schedule Impact in days.

9. If the communication has been created from an expenditure communication template which also records progress, any progress communications which can be claimed for in this communication are listed in the Associated Progress Communications section. Only Approved/Agreed progress communications which have not already been claimed in another expenditure communication are shown.

   Select the progress communications you want to claim for in this communication.

10. You can add a document to the communication:

    4. In the Add Attachment section, click Add Attachment.

    5. Click Browse to select the document you want to add.

    6. Enter the Name of the document.

    7. Select whether the document Is Confidential.

       Note This option is automatically set to No for Contractor Information Management users, and cannot be changed.

    Tip Click Add Attachment to add more documents.

    See Communication attachments for more information about documents added to a communication.

11. The options for saving the new communication depend on its communication template and routing type. Click the appropriate button (as listed in the table below) to create the communication.

    Requires Agreement	Click Save as Draft to save the communication as Draft (e.g. so that expenditure values can be added). OR Click Send to immediately publish the communication as Awaiting Agreement from Company.
    Does Not Require Agreement	Click Save as Draft to save the communication as Draft (e.g. so that expenditure values can be added). OR Click Send to immediately publish the communication as Approved.

    If the communication was saved as Draft, the Communication Details page is displayed.

12. If you clicked Send and the communication template is configured as Expenditure, a warning message is displayed to inform you that you must save the communication as Draft if you want to add expenditure values. Click Confirm to send the communication, or Cancel to return to the Create Communication page.

    Note If expenditure values were copied to the communication by linking to another communication, this message is still displayed. Click Confirm if you do not need to edit the expenditure.

13. If you clicked Send and the communication can be marked as a formal reply to one or more of its linked communications (usually the communication it was created from), the Mark as Obligated Reply window is displayed.

    Select the communication for which this is a formal reply, and click OK.

    Note The communication can be marked as a formal reply if it is in a story group with communications which:

    * have the opposite routing path (e.g. when creating a Contractor to Company communication, it can be marked as a reply to a Company to Contractor communication)

    * have a required response of Reply or Agreement and Reply

    * have not already been replied to

    These are the only communications listed for selection. Multiple communications can be selected.

    See Respond to a communication for more information.

14. If the communication was published, the Communications tab of the Contract home page is displayed.