CTR Announcements

The seal of the Office of the Comptroller. The seal is a blue ring with the words Office of the Comptroller, Massachusetts. Inside the blue ring is a yellow ring with the words Clarity, Accountability, Integrity. Inside the yellow ring is the State Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The following documents have been issued and are effective as of July 1, 2020:

New Commonwealth Terms and Conditions for Information Technology Contracts (IT Terms and Conditions)
Updated Commonwealth of Massachusetts Standard Contract Form
Updated Standard Contract Form Instructions and Contractor Certifications

Collectively, these documents more closely align with current industry standards for IT contracting.

We expect that the issuance of these new documents will:

Encourage more IT companies of all sizes to submit responses to IT Requests for Response (RFRs) because of the more favorable limitation of liability provisions;
Facilitate more streamlined negotiations; and
Improve the pricing that the Commonwealth receives for some IT contracts, since bidders may no longer increase costs to cover their current limitation of liability
These updated forms are effective July 1, 2020, and are posted on CTR’s Forms and the OSD Forms webpages. These forms are jointly issued and published by the Commonwealth’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance (ANF), the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS), the Office of the Comptroller (CTR), and the Operational Services Division (OSD). These forms are the default forms for all Commonwealth Departments (in all branches of state government) when other forms are not prescribed by regulation or policy. The Expenditure Classification Handbook identifies which object codes require the use of these forms and the State Finance Law and General Requirements Policy identifies the use of these forms by state departments.
All departments using COMMBUYS must update their document libraries to include the new contract forms to ensure the correct form is used. Please contact your procurement or fiscal staff to ensure that this important change is made.

William McNamara

Comptroller of the Commonwealth
One Ashburton Place, 9th Floor
Boston, MA 02108

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