By Léo Henry - Key Offer Manager Contract Management

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A subcontractor announces a delay. A request for additional work arises. A service provider disputes the allocation of responsibilities.
In an industrial project, these situations can affect costs, timelines, and operational continuity.

For project management and procurement teams, one question then becomes central: who committed to what, and what do the contracts stipulate when a discrepancy occurs?

Contract Management helps address these challenges:

• upstream, it helps structure the contractual framework and clarify obligations,
• during execution, it helps monitor obligations, analyse variances, and prepare for decisions.

At agap2, we combine this expertise with an understanding of industrial constraints and a mastery of contractual mechanisms.
Our teams support project management, procurement, and legal departments, from defining the contractual strategy through to project closure.

Clarifying obligations before project launch

Difficulties encountered during execution sometimes stem from choices made at the outset: poorly defined services, insufficiently managed interfaces, or responsibilities ambiguously distributed among several contractors.

Before drafting contracts, several questions structure the project:
Which services should be performed in-house or outsourced? How should they be distributed among subcontractors? Who coordinates the interfaces? What risks are associated with the chosen setup and how can they be managed?

Through its expertise in Contract Management, agap2 supports the company in defining a contractual strategy tailored to their interests, particularly regarding the choice of engagement type and the analysis of associated risks.

Their teams then help translate these guidelines into tender documents, specifying the services and their conditions of performance, as well as defining the responsibilities of the stakeholders.

The goal is to provide stakeholders with a clear frame of reference: what is expected, by whom, under what conditions, and according to what monitoring procedures.

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Use case

As part of a revamp of its contractual models, a major player in the energy sector entrusted agap2 with the analysis and modernisation of its standard contracts. Our Contract Management experts harmonised and clarified the contractual documents across several segments: works, supplies, and intellectual services. This intervention strengthened the legal security of the templates and improved the readability and consistency of the contractual framework.

Monitoring commitments and managing deviations during execution

A contingency can take many forms: an evolving technical specification, an emerging site constraint, a subcontractor falling behind schedule, or a service provider requesting an extension. The issue is not just identifying the event. It is necessary to determine what the contracts provide for, measure the consequences for the project, and decide on the appropriate response.

At agap2, our Contract Management experts reconcile facts with contractual commitments and operational realities.
‍They help track milestones, obligations, and events likely to affect costs or schedules. They analyse responsibilities and impacts, then provide project teams with the information needed to inform their decisions.

When a service provider submits a claim, this analysis may include reviewing contractual provisions, qualifying the deviation, gathering factual evidence, and assessing the alleged consequences. Depending on the situation, it may also involve preparing a claim or counter-claim file and providing support during negotiations.

Our objective is to build a position supported by the contract and the facts, while taking operational needs into account. An additional cost, for example, can be studied in light of the delay it would help avoid and its consequences for commissioning.

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Use case

With the growth of its electrical infrastructure projects, a major player in the energy sector needed to handle an increasing number of contractual deviations and supplier claims.
agap2 centralised and managed Claim Management across four strategic framework agreements: deviation analysis, definition of resolution strategies, negotiation support, and the implementation of monitoring tools.
This approach helped standardise the handling of claims, strengthen control over contract execution, and better defend the client's financial interests.

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Capitalising on projects to better prepare for the next ones

Feedback allows difficulties encountered to be transformed into useful lessons for future projects. Recurring deviations, claims, contractual ambiguities, or coordination difficulties can reveal areas that need to be better anticipated.

This capitalisation can drive the evolution of practices: clarifying contractual documents, improving tracking tools, sharing methods between teams, or raising awareness of Contract Management best practices. It helps to identify risk situations earlier and better document decisions made during execution.

agap2 support tailored to project challenges

Every project has its own constraints: the number of contracts, the organisation of contractors, the level of subcontracting, team maturity, or the volume of claims to be processed.

Our Contract Management support therefore starts with the specific issues encountered and adapts to the client's needs.

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Use case:

Faced with growing demand and a variety of contractual practices, a major energy player wanted to centralise and industrialise its contract management.
agap2 deployed a Contract Management service centre integrating AI agents to automate certain tasks, such as document analysis, request qualification, and the preparation of deliverables.
This approach improved productivity and operational efficiency, with gains of up to 20% and a reduction in associated costs.

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From contract preparation to closure, agap2 supports industrial companies in mastering their contractual commitments.

Our team of 120 Contract Management experts works on everything from Contract Strategy to Risk Management, including Contract Steering, Claim Management, and Lessons Learned.

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Are you preparing a project?
Do you want to strengthen your contract monitoring or need to handle ongoing claims?

Let’s discuss your situation and the support best suited to your teams.

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ABOUT LEO

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