The GSA Standard Terms deliver numerous benefits to buyers and providers around the world which include:

reduced time in negotiation,

reduced fees in contracting,

accelerated time to commence projects,

a level playing field for smaller diverse suppliers,

security for all parties, large and small, to be confident that they are working to a fair contract,

 a way for both parties to focus their resources on contract terms that are important to them,

giving control back to business users

The Standard Terms join the industry Standard NDA, which was launched early summer 2023. We are now working on Standard Terms for longer term outsourcing arrangements, and have a pipeline of other standard contracts under review by a diverse working group to add to the suite. 

We are hosting the Standard Terms in the Clausify platform as a means to ensure that the “standard” contract doesn’t get adapted or modified while still appearing standard. Clausify is a unique legal tech platform that keeps all standard clauses locked from editing, while providing the ability to add special terms or bespoke amendments in a controlled, transparent and auditable way - thus guaranteeing users that they are indeed using GSA’s Standard Terms and not an amended version. We think this is a great addition to our approach to standardisation, delivering real peace of mind to users.

Chris Bates, Partner at Ashurst LLP, and Chair of the GSA’s contracting workstream commented: “I believe that industry standard terms are essential to help the industry thrive and I am delighted to have played a part in a movement towards standardisation in the contracting space. This has been a fascinating process - to be able genuinely to collaborate with lawyers from other organisations to arrive at a commonly held goal of fair contracting positions. It demonstrated just how much time can be saved if the parties have a reliable and balanced place from which to start.”