How Contract Expert Rules Work

You can set up Contract Expert rules to apply contract terms templates automatically to contracts, to suggest additional clauses for insertion during contract terms authoring, and to identify any contract deviations from company policy.

Each rule comprises conditions that must be met and the rule results. You can base rule conditions on:

• The presence of another clause already in the contract

• The value of a system variable or a user variable

• Questions that the contract author must answer

Different Contract Expert rule types support different condition types, as illustrated in the following figure. Clause selection rules, which can default individual clauses and sections into a contract, can be based on clauses, questions, and variables. Template selection rules, which identify the default contract terms template for the contract, can be based on variables only. Policy deviation rules, which identify contract deviations from company policies, use questions and variables only.The following figure illustrates the Clause Selection, Template Selection, and Policy Deviation Contract Expert rules.

Key rule properties include:

• All rules can use multiple conditions linked together with either the AND or OR logical operators.

• All rules: clause selection, policy deviation, or template selection cannot start with a numeric prefix.

• The values of non-numeric conditions are supplied by value sets.

• The values for numeric conditions are supplied by constants.

• Rule types that permit the inclusion of questions can trigger follow-up questions, permitting you to chain rules together.

• Rules are restricted to the specific business unit and the contract intent where you create them.

• Rules do not get copied when you copy a global contract terms template to another business unit.

• Conditions support both logical and numeric operators:

  • IS

  • IS NOT

  • IN (allows the selection of multiple values)

  • NOT IN (allows the selection of multiple values)

  • >=: (greater than or equal to)

  • <=: (less than or equal to)

  • =: (equal to)

  • > (greater than)

  • < (less than)

Clause Selection Rules

Clause selection rules permit you to insert one or more clauses and sections into a contract.

The following table describes the rule properties.

Rule Property	Details
Rule outcomes	The rule can: Recommend one or more clauses for insertion into the contract Contract authors can review the Contract Expert recommendations before the clauses get inserted into the contract. By setting the Expert Clauses Mandatory option when creating a contract terms template, you can specify if you want the clause insertion to be mandatory or if the authors can ignore the recommendations. If you make the insertion mandatory, then only contract authors with the Override Contract Terms and Conditions Controls privilege, a special privilege that allows deleting mandatory clauses from the contract, can reject the recommendations. Similarly, if the recommended clauses are standard clauses, then the authors must have the Author Additional Standard Contract Terms and Conditions privilege to reject the recommendations. This privilege allows the deletion of standard clauses from the contract. If you marked recommended clauses as conditional and specified the location of these clauses in the terms template, then Contract Expert inserts the clause in the contract in the location that you specified. If the location of an Expert suggested clause isn't specified in the terms template, Contract Expert inserts each clause in the section specified as the default for the clause in the Contract Terms Library. If no default section is specified in the clause, then Contract Expert inserts the clause into the default section specified in the contract terms template. Contract Expert automatically inserts the default section if it doesn't already exist in the contract. Ask follow-up questions You can ask follow-up questions by adding them in the Additional Questions region of the Results tab. Any additional question that you add must be part of another rule. Adding the follow-up question chains the rules together.
When the rule is evaluated	The rule is evaluated every time that a user runs Contract Expert. Users receive a warning message during contract validation if they fail to run Contract Expert.
Conditions	Conditions can be based on: clauses questions variables You can use both predefined system variables and user variables. Both types of user variables are supported: those that require entry by contract authors and those where the values are supplied by a Java procedure.
Where it applies	The rule applies only within the business unit and for the intent that you specify. You can have the rule apply to one of the following: Specific contract terms templates All contract terms templates for the business unit

Contract Terms Template Selection Rules

Contract terms template selection rules permit you to automatically apply a contract terms template to a contract.

The following table describes the rule properties.

Rule Property	Details
Rule outcomes	The application automatically applies a contract terms template to a contract. Or, if the author removed the contract terms using the Actions menu, the template displays the template name as the default when applying a new template.
When the rule is evaluated	The application evaluates the rule whenever the author navigates to the Contract Terms tab as long as no contract terms template is applied. If a contract terms template is applied to the contract, the template selection rules are not executed again, even if changes to the contract would result in a different rule outcome. The rule is also evaluated to determine if the contract contains the recommended template whenever the contract author: Runs the clause deviations report Validates the contract terms or the contract In both cases, the rule generates a warning if the author applied a different template from that recommended by the rule.
Conditions	Variables only You can use predefined system variables and those user-defined variables where the values are supplied by a Java procedure.
Where it applies	The rule applies only within the business unit and for the intent specified in the rule.

Contract Expert doesn't apply a contract terms template if the contract terms template default rules you set up recommend multiple terms templates for a single contract. Instead, Contract Expert applies the contract terms template specified as the default for the business document type during contract terms template setup. If no document type default is specified, then the application displays the Add Contract Terms button and permits authors to select a template of their own choice. The choices are restricted to the templates specified for the contract type.The following figure describes choosing a contract terms template for application to a contract.

Policy Deviation Rules

Policy deviation rules identify deviations from company policies on the contract deviations report. This report is run by the contract author before submitting a contract for approval.

The following table lists the rule properties.

Rule Property	Details
Rule results	The rule displays a deviation in the contract deviations report. The rule name becomes the deviation.
When the rule is evaluated	The rule is evaluated whenever the user: Runs the contract deviations report Validates the contract terms or the contract
Conditions	Conditions can be based on: Questions Variables Both predefined system variables and those user-defined variables where the values are supplied by a Java procedure.
Where it applies	The rule applies only for the contract terms templates within the business unit and for the intent that you specify.

You can build rule conditions out of both questions and variables. In the contract deviation report, your entry in the Rule Name field becomes the deviation name and your entry in the rule Description field becomes the deviation description.The following figure illustrates the policy deviation rule setup.

Policy deviation rules list policy deviations in the contract deviations report, along with any clause deviations that are identified automatically by the application. Contract authors can run the report before submitting the contract for approval and enter comments to explain the deviation to the approver. The report is rerun automatically when the author submits the contract for approval and a copy of the report is attached to the approval notification.

Activating and Validating Rules

After you set up a rule, you must activate it using the Activate Rule action. Rules do not require approval before activation, but the contract terms templates that they apply to do.

Note: To activate a rule, you must assign it to at least one contract terms template. The template doesn't have to be approved at the time that you make the assignment, but it does have to be approved before the rule can be used.

Activating a rule triggers an automatic validation process. You must correct all errors before the rule gets activated.