Call-off Contract Template for England and Wales

A Call-off Contract is the order that turns a framework agreement into a binding commitment for a specific requirement. Under England and Wales law, and particularly in public procurement, its validity depends on staying within the framework it is awarded under.

When do you need this document?

You need a Call-off Contract whenever you buy under an existing framework rather than running a fresh procurement: a contracting authority ordering services from a framework panel, a large organisation drawing down against a preferred supplier arrangement, or a buyer running a further competition among framework suppliers for a particular package of work. Suppliers need it equally, because the framework alone usually creates no obligation to buy anything.

What does it cover?

The call-off sets out the specific requirement and specification, the charges and payment terms, the delivery dates and any service levels, and it incorporates the framework terms rather than restating them. It names key personnel where continuity matters, includes the data protection terms appropriate to the actual processing, and sets liability and insurance within the framework's limits. Because two documents now govern the relationship, it establishes an order of precedence so conflicts resolve predictably, and it provides for termination and an exit plan.

Common pitfalls

The most serious problem in a public context is a call-off that varies the framework's terms. Materially different terms can amount to awarding a new contract without a proper procedure, which exposes it to challenge, so changes belong in the framework rather than the order. The second is an unclear order of precedence, which is what most call-off disputes actually turn on once the specification and the framework terms conflict. The third is relying on the framework's generic data protection schedule when the specific requirement involves processing it was never drafted for.