Respond to a communication

To ensure that communications are responded to in a timely manner, time periods are often written into the terms of the contract. When a fixed response time is specified, the company and contractor are under obligation to respond within a set timeframe or suffer contractual penalties.

Communications in AVEVA Contract Risk Management can be configured, via the communication templates, to require a response. The possible options for the required response are:

• None

• Agreement Only (e.g. for Minutes of Meeting which must be agreed by the contractor)

• Reply Only (e.g. for a Technical Query)

• Agreement and Reply (e.g. for an Application for Payment which must be agreed and must have a Payment Certificate sent in reply)

For a communication to be available as a reply communication:

• It must be in the same story group as the communication which requires response.

• It must have the correct routing path relative to the communication which requires response.

  Routing Path of Communication Which Requires Response	Routing Path of Reply Communication
  Contractor to Company	Company to Contractor
  Company to Contractor	Contractor to Company

Obligations

If a response to the communication is required, an obligation is automatically initiated for the communication when it is sent. The obligation owner is set according to the routing path (e.g. for a Company to Contractor, the owner is Contractor), and the due date of the communication is set to that of the obligation.

The obligation is automatically set as Completed once the required response (agreement and/or reply) is sent. It can also be manually set as Completed.

See Contract obligations for more information.

Communications that require Agreement Only

If a communication has a Required Response of Agreement Only, then its obligation will be set as Completed once the communication state is updated to Agreed, Not Agreed or Rejected.

See Agree or Not Agree a communication and Reject a communication.

Communications that require Reply Only

If a communication has a Required Response of Reply Only, then its obligation will be set as Completed once a related communication is sent and marked as a reply.

To send a formal reply to a communication as a required response:

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

   The Create a Communication page is displayed.

2. Enter the communication details as required.

   If the communication is saved as Draft, further changes can be made to it before it is sent.

3. When the state of the communication is changed (to Awaiting Agreement from Recipient, Agreed, Not Agreed or Approved as appropriate), the Mark as Obligated Reply window is displayed. This lists all communications which:

   • are in a story with the communication being sent as a reply

     AND

   • have not already been replied to

     AND

   • have the correct routing path (see above).

4. Select the communications for which the current communication is the formal reply.

   As soon as you select a communication, the current communication is marked as its formal reply.

5. Click OK to close the window.

6. On the Communication Details page for the communication which requires response, the Days Remaining header no longer shows that a reply is required.

   The associated obligation is automatically set as Completed.

Communications that require Agreement and Reply

If a communication has a Required Response of Agreement and Reply, then its obligation will be set as Completed once the following have taken place:

• The communication state is updated to Agreed, Not Agreed or Rejected.

• See Agree or Not Agree a communication and Reject a communication.

• A related communication is sent and marked as a reply - this is not required if the communication state is Not Agreed or Rejected.

To send a reply to a communication as a required response:

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

   The Create a Communication page is displayed.

8. Enter the communication details as required.

   If the communication is saved as Draft, further changes can be made to it before it is sent.

9. When the state of the communication is changed (to Awaiting Agreement from Recipient, Agreed, Not Agreed or Approved as appropriate), the Mark as Obligated Reply window is displayed. This lists all communications which:

   • are in a story with the communication being sent as a reply

     AND

   • have not already been replied to

     AND

   • have the correct routing path (see above).

10. Select the communications for which the current communication is the formal reply.

    As soon as you select a communication, the current communication is marked as its formal reply.

11. Click OK to close the window.

12. On the Communication Details page for the communication which requires response, the Days Remaining header no longer shows that a reply is required.

    If the communication which requires a response has also been Agreed, then the associated obligation is automatically set as Completed when the reply is sent. Otherwise, the obligation will be set as Completed once the state of the communication has been updated to Agreed.

Mark and unmark communications as replies

You can mark and unmark a communication as a reply after it has been sent, e.g. when backloading data.

To mark a communication as a reply:

On the Communication Details page of the reply, click the drop-down arrow on the Details tab and select Mark as Reply.

13. The Mark as Obligated Reply page is displayed.

14. Select the communications for which the current communication is the formal reply. For example, a Payment Certificate would be marked as the reply to an Application for Payment.

    As soon as you select a communication, the current communication is marked as its formal reply.

15. Click OK to close the window.

To unmark a communication as a reply:

16. On the Communication Details page of the reply, click the drop-down arrow on the Details tab and select Mark as Reply.

    The Mark as Obligated Reply page is displayed.

17. Clear the check boxes for the communication which you no longer want the current communication to be a formal reply to.

    The communication is immediately unmarked as a reply to these.

18. Click OK to close the window.