Recommended Year 2000 Contract Language

{Revised -- August 22, 1997}

Commercial Supply Products Warranty

This clause is recommended for voluntary use by Federal agencies in their solicitations and contracts for Year 2000 compliant software, hardware, and systems comprised of commercial information technology products with the following exceptions: (1) the requirement will not continue to exist after December 31, 1999, or (2) the agency has decided to accept offers from vendors that do not have the needed Year 2000 compliant products, but will be required under the contract to upgrade the information technology items to be Year 2000 compliant by a suitable date in advance of the year 2000. The clause may be used when some but not all of the products being acquired are required to be Year 2000 compliant.

The words "listed below" in the clause refer to products that the offeror has identified as being Year 2000 compliant in response to the procuring agency's specifications. For unlisted products, contracting officers are reminded to adhere to the provisions of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Part 12, and to obtain an express warranty that includes repair and replacement of any such defective unlisted products discovered within a reasonable period of time after acceptance if merchantability and fitness for use are waived and not included in the offeror's commercial warranty for those unlisted products.

Year 2000 Warranty--Commercial Supply Items

• The contractor warrants that each hardware, software, and firmware product delivered under this contract and listed below shall be able to accurately process date/time data (including, but not limited to, calculating, comparing, and sequencing) from, into, and between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the years 1999 and 2000 and leap year calculations to the extent that other information technology, used in combination with the information technology being acquired, properly exchanges date/time data with it. If the contract requires that specific listed products must perform as a system in accordance with the foregoing warranty, then that warranty shall apply to those listed products as a system. The duration of this warranty and the remedies available to the Government for breach of this warranty shall be as defined in, and subject to, the terms and limitations of the contractor's standard commercial warranty or warranties contained in this contract, provided that notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in such commercial warranty or warranties, the remedies available to the Government under this warranty shall include repair or replacement of any listed product whose non-compliance is discovered and made known to the contractor in writing within ninety (90) days after acceptance. Nothing in this warranty shall be construed to limit any rights or remedies the Government may otherwise have under this contract with respect to defects other than Year 2000 performance.

Note for solicitations and new contracts: The solicitation should describe the existing computer system or the products (i.e., firmware, middleware, etc.) that will be used with the commercial products and systems being acquired, and as appropriate, whether those existing systems and products are Year 2000 compliant, and any efforts currently underway to provide this capability.

Note for existing contracts: It is recommended that agencies negotiate modifications to existing contracts for acquisition of new products using the above clause as a guide. Prior to modifying the contract, the project team must ensure (1) that performance is possible considering the characteristics of the existing products, (2) the suppliers' agreements with the integrator will allow this work to be performed, (3) cost of performance will not be prohibitive, and (4) that the contractor will agree to the modification (should be a bilateral modification). The Government may elect to acquire versions of those products that warrant accurate performance in the processing of date and date related data.

Non-Commercial Supply Items Warranty

This clause is recommended for voluntary use by agencies for their solicitations and contracts for custom computer items (e.g. hardware, software and systems) with the following exceptions: (1) the requirement will not continue to exist after December 31, 1999, or (2) the agency has decided to accept offers from vendors that do not have the needed Year 2000 compliant items, but will be required under the contract to upgrade those items to be Year 2000 compliant by a suitable date in advance of the year 2000. The clause may be used when some but not all of the items being acquired are required to be Year 2000 compliant. The words "listed below" in the clause refer to items that the offeror has identified as being Year 2000 compliant in response to the procuring agency's specifications.

Year 2000 Warranty--Non-Commercial Supply Items

• The contractor warrants that each non-commercial item of hardware, software, and firmware delivered or developed under this contract and listed below shall be able to accurately process date/time data (including, but not limited to, calculating, comparing, and sequencing) from, into, and between the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and the years 1999 and 2000 and leap year calculations to the extent that other information technology, used in combination with the information technology being acquired, properly exchanges date/time data with it. If the contract requires that specific listed items must perform as a system in accordance with the foregoing warranty, then that warranty shall apply to those listed items as a system. The duration of this warranty and the remedies available to the Government for breach of this warranty shall be as defined in, and subject to, the terms and limitations of any general warranty provisions of this contract, provided that notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in such warranty provision(s), or in the absence of any such warranty provision(s), the remedies available to the Government under this warranty shall include repair or replacement of any listed item whose non-compliance is discovered and made known to the contractor in writing within ninety (90) days after acceptance. Nothing in this warranty shall be construed to limit any rights or remedies the Government may otherwise have under this contract with respect to defects other than Year 2000 performance.

Note for solicitations and new contracts: The solicitation should describe the existing computer system or the items (i.e., firmware, middleware, etc.) that will be used with the software and systems being acquired, and as appropriate, whether those existing systems, items, and software are Year 2000 compliant, and any efforts currently underway to provide this capability.

Note for existing contracts: It is recommended that agencies negotiate modifications to existing contracts for acquisition of new items using the above clause as a guide. Prior to modifying the contract, the project team must ensure (1) that performance is possible considering the characteristics of the existing items, (2) the suppliers' agreements with the integrator will allow this work to be performed, (3) cost of performance will not be prohibitive, and (4) that the contractor will agree to the modification (should be a bilateral modification). The Government may elect to acquire versions of those items that warrant accurate performance in the processing of date and date related data.

IT Policy On-Ramp

United States Federal Government Document.

Used by Permission.

Return to Spotlight Archive