Managing contracts and keeping the record

Why this matters

Most problems in public contracts appear after the award: late delivery, changed scope, invoices that do not match the work. Good contract management is steady, boring attention. AI can help keep track. It cannot take responsibility for a payment or a penalty.

Where AI can help

• Summarising a contract. A one-page list of deliverables, dates, payment milestones and who is responsible, checked against the signed document.
• Tracking dates. A calendar of milestones, reports and renewals built from the contract.
• Preparing reminders and letters. Drafts of routine notices to a supplier, in plain language and in the right register.
• Checking invoices. Comparing the lines of an invoice with the contract rates and the delivery record, and listing differences for a person to review.
• Meeting notes. Turning notes of a progress meeting into a list of decisions and actions, checked by those who attended. See meeting minutes with AI.

Where it must stop

• Payments and penalties. The officer decides, signs and is responsible.
• Changes to scope or price. Variations follow your rules and approvals, not a tool's suggestion.
• Legal interpretation. If a clause is disputed, take it to the legal adviser.
• Confidential supplier data. Rates, internal costs and correspondence with a supplier go only into approved tools.

Keep a record that can be followed

An auditor, a court or a new officer should be able to see what happened and why. For each use of AI in contract work:

• note the date, the tool, what it was asked to do and who checked the output
• keep the original documents as the source of truth and the AI output as a working note
• record any correction you made to the AI output
• store these notes with the contract file, not in a personal account

Our guide on AI and record-keeping explains the habits in more detail.

Beware of lock-in

If a contract is for an AI system or depends on one, check early how you could leave: who owns the data and outputs, whether you can export them and what happens at the end of the term. See vendor lock-in and the guide to questions to ask an AI vendor.

Try it

Take an invented contract with three milestones. Use an approved tool, or do it by hand, to produce a one-page table of deliverables, dates and payment conditions. Then check each line against the contract text and note any error.

Check yourself

1. Name two tasks in contract management where AI can help.
2. Who decides on a payment or a penalty?
3. Where should notes about AI use on a contract be kept?

Answers: (1) Any two of: summarising the contract, tracking dates, drafting routine notices, checking invoices against the contract, turning meeting notes into actions. (2) The authorised officer, not the tool. (3) With the contract file, not in a personal account.