The contract manager’s profession is full of terms and acronyms that are often hard to grasp for a beginner or an outsider. New contract managers often find themselves at a loss in front of a jargon made up mainly of borrowings from adjacent disciplines such as sales, bid management, contract management and law.
So it often happens that anyone unfamiliar with contract management wonders what a “claim”, a “KoM” or a “contract awareness” actually is.
In this article, we propose to demystify this rather technical language, full of anglicisms and acronyms, through a glossary of the terms most used in contract management, including definitions and explanations that will help you understand your contract managers better, and perhaps even hold a gripping conversation about a risk assessment matrix over coffee.
AFCM: this acronym stands for the Association Française du Contract Management. Created more than 10 years ago, the association’s main purpose is to bring contract managers together, to promote and develop the profession, while improving its recognition and its role within companies.
AO: we start with a classic. AO is the French acronym for “appel d’offres”, or tender, used indifferently for public or private purchasing.
Bid / No Bid: this term, often associated with Go / No Go (see below), relates to the governance around tender responses. It refers to the stage or milestone at which a decision is taken to prepare a bid in response to an RFP or a contract notice. This stage usually comes after the “Go / No Go” (see below).
Change Order: the Change Order is one of the many anglicisms found in contract management. A “change order” is (unless the contract defines it otherwise) an official change made to the original contract, often to adjust specifications, quantities or deadlines, following mutual agreement between the contracting parties.
Claim: another anglicism (and not the last). A “claim” is a formal request submitted by a contracting party to obtain compensation or an adjustment in terms of time or payment because of changes or unforeseen events affecting performance of the contract.
CLM: this acronym refers to “Contract Lifecycle Management” software. In our view it is mainly a false friend, since the CLMs on the market cover only a small part of the contract lifecycle.
CMP: this acronym refers to the “Contract Management Plan”. A distant cousin of the PMP (Project Management Plan), the CMP is an indispensable contract management tool on large projects. It condenses and clarifies complex contracts, highlighting the key deliverables and the main risks and improving communication, while remaining adaptable to the specific needs of the project or the organisation.
Compliance Matrix: in French, a “matrice de conformité”. This document, often presented as a table, confirms the match (and identifies any gaps) between the need expressed by the buyer and the content of the commercial offer responding to that need.
FIDIC: the acronym FIDIC stands for the “Fédération Internationale Des Ingénieurs Conseils”. A FIDIC contract is a standard form published by that federation, which is now a reference in many fields and serves as the basis for negotiating most large international projects. To find out more about FIDIC contracts, read our dedicated article.
GME: refers to a “Groupement Momentané d’Entreprise”, a temporary consortium generally without legal personality that allows several companies to bid together for a tender. This GME, represented by a lead member, is subject to no particular rules (even though a contracting authority may impose joint and several liability between its members). Freedom of contract allows the members of the GME to organise how it works simply and freely (administration, funding, roles of the parties, and so on)
Go-No/Go: refers to the stage or milestone at which a company decides whether or not to spend time studying an opportunity (whether an RFP, a tender, a public procurement contract, and so on). To go further and discover how to set up a Go/No-Go, read our article on the subject.
LD: is an acronym for “Liquidated Damages”, which can be translated, to stay as close as possible to Article 1231-5 of the French Civil Code, as a penalty (which may be for delay, but not only).
Maître d’oeuvre: the maître d’œuvre is the professional responsible for the design and for supervising the execution of a construction project, ensuring that the works comply with the plans and specifications initially established.
Maître d’ouvrage: the maître d’ouvrage is the person or entity that commissions and funds a construction project, defining its objectives and needs, while the maître d’œuvre (seen above) is the professional engaged by the maître d’ouvrage to design the project and supervise its execution in line with the specifications established.
MoM: this acronym refers to the “Minutes of Meeting”, or “compte rendu de réunion” in French. It keeps a record of the exchanges and verbal agreements reached in meetings, so that a history can be reconstructed if difficulties arise.
MoU: we are not talking about your project manager here! Joking aside, this is an acronym that stands for “Memorandum of Understanding”.
NDA: the acronym stands for “Non Disclosure Agreement”, or “accord de confidentialité” in French.
NEC: this acronym stands for “New Engineering Contract”. Like FIDIC contracts (see above), the NEC is a standard framework for drafting and managing construction and civil engineering contracts, widely adopted in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, offering flexibility and standardisation across various sectors.
RAO: is an acronym for “Réponse à Appel d’Offres”, a tender response. The RAO may relate to a public procurement contract or to a private RFP-type contract.
RFI, RFP and RFQ: for the definition of these acronyms and the difference between the three concepts, read our partner’s article on the subject.
RGPD: or “Règlement Général sur la Protection des Données”, the French name for the GDPR. We will not insult you with a lecture on the subject, especially as the CNIL does it superbly, but it is one of the texts a contract manager needs to know: at the heart of the project, they may act as the operational relay for a DPO.
TS: this acronym stands for “Travaux Supplémentaires”, or additional works (at least in the construction and infrastructure sector), and covers all additional works or deliverables (i.e. not initially provided for in the contract) that a party must, has or will carry out. These TS may give rise to a Claim or a Change Order (see above).
➡️ If you think definitions, terms or acronyms frequently used in contract management are missing here, do let the Prime Conseil team know by sending us a message with your best practices!