Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC)

Standard Acquisition Clauses and Conditions (SACC) is the Government of Canada's collection of standardized contractual terms used in federal procurement. The clauses and conditions are set out in the SACC Manual, and a contract identifies each one by its title, number and date. The manual formed the foundation of procurement documents issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), now Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Its source is the PWGSC publication of the manual.

The Supply Program Management Sector of PWGSC produced the manual. It was written to give suppliers and federal clients information on the terms and conditions commonly used in the federal contracting process. Its contents were referred to in federal bidding opportunities and contracting activities, as described in the Government of Canada publication record. SACC is a Canadian federal procurement term. It is not a NATO term.

How SACC clauses are cited in solicitations and contracts

A solicitation or contract does not usually reproduce every clause in full. It refers to each clause by its number, title and date, and the referenced text becomes part of the procurement document. A supplier reading a request for proposal or a resulting contract will see these references in the terms and conditions, in the resulting contract clauses and in the supplementary conditions.

The date matters because a clause can exist in several versions. The version that applies is the one named in the procurement document.

What the SACC Manual contains

The manual was organized into several categories of clauses and conditions. These included:

• standard procurement clauses;
• general conditions;
• financial security;
• insurance;
• supply arrangements;
• printing; and
• Indigenous procurement.

These categories are published on the CanadaBuys SACC Manual page. They show that the manual covered contract administration, risk and security requirements, and specialized procurement types, and was not limited to a single kind of purchase.

Status of the SACC Manual since June 2023

The Government of Canada states that the SACC Manual has not been maintained since June 2023. Clauses that were formerly marked "Active" are now displayed as archived. Contracts issued with SACC Manual clauses remain valid, according to the CanadaBuys manual section.

An archived label therefore does not cancel an existing contract. A clause that a contract incorporated before the change continues to bind the parties.

SACC references in defence and other federal procurement

Canadian defence solicitations can contain SACC clauses when the purchase is conducted under the federal contracting framework. A SACC reference does not mean the procurement is a NATO procurement or that a NATO standard applies. Suppliers should treat SACC clauses as Canadian contract terms and read any NATO requirements separately where a solicitation includes them.

What SACC means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

A supplier must read and comply with every SACC clause that a solicitation or contract expressly incorporates. Depending on the clause, the obligations can cover insurance, security, intellectual property, reporting, certifications, payment, delivery or other performance requirements.

• Rely on the clause number, title and date stated in the procurement document, not on the latest archived text.
• Check each referenced clause before bid submission, including any insurance or financial security requirements, so that costs and capacity are accounted for.
• Keep the cited clause references with the contract file, because they define the terms for the life of the contract.