Legal Guidance Within IT, Energy & Infrastructure

It is generally advised that an IT or software agreement should provide for service levels against which the supplier’s performance can be assessed. Service level provisions in an agreement will often be included as a schedule to the agreement and will include a clear statement of the expected end results. Service levels will often reference response times in the event of a system failure, levels of seriousness for failure and the agreed action and turnaround times to deal with any issues. The service levels for each contract will be different and will depend on the nature and needs of your business. It is also important to specifically provide in the agreement the consequences for failing to meet service levels, whether in the form of service credits or the ability to terminate.

Whether contained in the IT outsourcing or software agreement itself, or in a separate data processing agreement, it is important to ensure that the data processing relationship between supplier and customer is set out in writing and in adequate detail to ensure compliance with UK data protection laws. The agreement should state who is the processor and who is the controller (or, if the parties are joint controllers or controllers-in-common, the circumstances around the same). It should also set out the obligations of each party and the consequence of non-compliance.

A power purchase agreement is a form of offtake agreement and is a contract made between an electricity generator and the party proposing to purchase the power generated (known as the offtaker). The agreement will usually be a long-term contract, incorporating the commercially agreed terms between the parties for the sale and purchase of electricity as part of an energy project. The power purchase agreement provides a route to market for the electricity generated by the generator and, in the case of renewable energy generating stations, the associated green benefits that the generator receives for generating electricity from renewable sources.