Contract change management approval is a functionality that is used to approve a contract change order (CCO) before it is allowed to continue in the process. Some type of change orders may need an approval in several stages/status due to the level of impact on e.g. cost, schedule and risk.
The simplest level of approval is to only make a status change in the CCO header. The next levels of approval are optional. You can define approvals for each status, done by creating one or several approval per status lines in the Contract Change Order/Approvals tab, which defines the status change that should be preceded by an approval. This approval line has to be approved before the status in the CCO header can be changed. Further, you can define an approval routing in Attachments for each approval per status line as well. The steps in this approval routing can be entered manually or be retrieved from an approval rule and a predefined approval template. You should first approve any approval lines in Attachments for the line, to be able to change the status of the approval per status line to approved.
Defining approvals for each status can also be done in the change type basic
data for the CCO. These approval per status lines will be copied to the CCO if
the it is created using the relevant change type. If an approval template has
been added to any of these lines, the approval lines that belong to the approval
template will also be added to Attachments for that particular
approval per status line.
Note: When you approve an approval per status
line the system checks if any approval lines are connected to the status line.
If there are no such approval
lines the system checks the rules, if the Use Approval Rule check box has
been selected for the status line. If the Fetch Approval Routing menu
option is used all
the existing approval lines will be removed and a new retrieval of the approval
template from the change type or approval rules is done.
Before you can use the contract change management approval functionality, you should first enter the basic data.
The parameters that control which CCO should be approved and when, are defined in the change type and the approval rules. They can also be entered manually in the CCO. Using the approvals per status functionality in a change type you will be able to define how and when a CCO that belongs to this change type should be approved. You can add an approval routing to an approval per status line. In the change type you can also define if external approval is required for the selected type of change. If external approval is required you must define one or several contact persons as external approvers in the Contract Change Order/Contacts tab. Once you have submitted information to the external approvers you can enter their approval/rejection using the Approve Externally (or Reject Externally) right mouse button option. A CCO is considered to be approved externally when all contact persons listed as external approvers have approved the CCO.
Those with the authority to internally approve a CCO should be registered in the Document Management/Basic Data/Persons window. There are two ways to organize the approvers in an approval template:
Approval templates are connected to change types or approval rules and determine the responsible approvers or approver groups. Each template has steps for the different approvers and approver groups. Each step number will enable you to define the order of approval (the person/group with the lowest number is required to approve first). The approval templates are defined in Document Management/Basic Data/Document Basic/Approval Template tab.
Selecting the Automatic Approval check box will eliminate the need of manually approving the approval per status line in the Contract Change Order/Approvals tab. The approval per status line will be automatically set to Approved once all associated approval lines in Attachments have been approved.
Some changes to CCOs require one or several external persons approval e.g. the customer owner or project manager. If external approval is required it can be defined on the change type. The external approvers should be predefined in the Contract Change Order/Contacts tab. The information can be internally approved regarding values etc., before being sent for external approval. This is indicated by the Submittal Approved status. Now you can submit the information to the external approver. The response from the external approver can be registered by clicking the Approve Externally (or Reject Externally) menu option. All the contracts listed as external approvers need to approve the CCO. If any of these contact persons rejects the approval the whole contract change order is considered as externally rejected. It is possible to reopen and modify a rejected CCO so it fulfills the requirements of the approver. This revised CCO will then need new approval
Information about the external and internal approval of a CCO is stored in the CCO history and can be viewed in the Contract Change Order/History tab.