Disputes – Contract
A. The parties shall deal in good faith and attempt to resolve potential disputes informally. If the dispute concerning a question of fact arising under the terms of this Contract is not disposed of in a reasonable period of time by the Subrecipient’s Project Manager and the County‘s Project Manager, such matter shall be brought to the attention of the Contract Administrator by way of the following process:
1. The Subrecipient shall submit to the agency/department assigned Contract Administrator a written demand for a final decision regarding the disposition of any dispute between the parties arising under, related to, or involving this Contract, unless the County, on its own initiative, has already rendered such a final decision.
2. The Subrecipient’s written demand shall be fully supported by factual information, and, if such demand involves a cost adjustment to the Contract, the Subrecipient shall include with the demand a written statement signed by a senior official indicating that the demand is made in good faith, that the supporting data are accurate and complete, and that the amount requested accurately reflects the Contract adjustment for which the Subrecipient believes the County is liable.
B. Pending the final resolution of any dispute arising under, related to, or involving this Contract, the Subrecipient agrees to diligently proceed with the performance of this Contract, including the delivery of goods and/or provision of services. The Subrecipient’s failure to diligently proceed shall be considered a material breach of this Contract. Any final decision of the County shall be expressly identified as such, shall be in writing, and shall be signed by the Director. If the County fails to render a decision within 90 days after receipt of the Subrecipient’s demand, it shall be deemed a final decision adverse to the Subrecipient’s contentions. Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the County’s right to terminate the Contract for cause or termination for convenience as stated in Section K herein.
Contract Disputes The Parties shall deal in good faith and attempt to resolve potential disputes informally. If the dispute concerning a question of fact arising under the terms of this Contract is not disposed of in a reasonable period of time by the Contractor’s Supervisor and the County‘s project manager as specified in Article 25. Notices by way of the following process, such matter shall be brought to the attention of the County DPA by way of the following process:
i. The Contractor shall submit to the County DPA a written demand for a final decision regarding the disposition of any dispute between the Parties arising under, related to, or involving this Contract, unless the County, on its own initiative, has already rendered such a final decision.
ii. The Contractor’s written demand shall be fully supported by factual information, and, if such demand involves a cost adjustment to the Contract, the Contractor shall include with the demand a written statement signed by a senior official indicating that the demand is made in good faith, that the supporting data are accurate and complete, and that the amount requested accurately reflects the Contract adjustment for which the Contractor believes the County is liable.
iii. Pending the final resolution of any dispute arising under, related to, or involving this Contract, the Contractor agrees to diligently proceed with the performance of this Contract, including the delivery of goods and/or provision of services. The Contractor’s failure to diligently proceed shall be considered a material breach of this Contract. Any final decision of the County shall be expressly identified as such, shall be in writing, and shall be signed by the County DPA or his designee. If the County fails to render a decision within 90 days after receipt of the Contractor’s demand, it shall be deemed a final decision adverse to the Contractor’s contentions. The County’s final decision shall be conclusive and binding regarding the dispute unless the Contractor commences action in a court of competent jurisdiction to contest such decision within 90 days following the date of the County’s final decision or one year following the accrual of the cause of action, whichever is later.
Disputes and Adjustments of Invoices In the event an invoice or portion thereof or any other claim or adjustments arising hereunder, is disputed, payment of the undisputed portion of the invoice shall be required to be made when due, with Notice of the objection given to the other Party. Any invoice dispute or invoice adjustment shall be in writing and shall state the basis for the dispute or adjustment. Payment of the disputed amount shall not be required until the dispute is resolved. The Parties agree to use good faith efforts to resolve the dispute or identify the adjustment as soon as possible in accordance with the provisions of Article Eighteen (Dispute Resolution). Upon resolution of the dispute or calculation of the adjustment, any required payment shall be made within fifteen (15) calendar days of such resolution along with interest accrued at the Interest Rate from and including the due date, but excluding the date on which the payment is made. Inadvertent overpayments shall be returned upon request or deducted by the Party receiving such overpayment from subsequent invoices, with interest accrued at the Interest Rate from and including the date of such overpayment to but excluding the date repaid or deducted by the Party receiving such overpayment. Any dispute with respect to an invoice is waived unless the other Party is Notified in accordance with this Section 9.4 within twelve (12) months after the invoice is rendered or any specific adjustment to the invoice is made. If an invoice is not rendered within twelve (12) months after the close of the month during which performance giving rise to the payment obligation occurred (or in the case of amounts based on CAISO invoices within twelve (12) months after the close of the month during which such invoice or revised invoice giving rise to the payment obligation was rendered), the right to payment for such performance is waived.
Invoice Disputes If you believe any delivered software or service does not conform to the warranties in this Agreement, you will provide us with written notice within thirty (30) days of your receipt of the applicable invoice. The written notice must contain reasonable detail of the issues you contend are in dispute so that we can confirm the issue and respond to your notice with either a justification of the invoice, an adjustment to the invoice, or a proposal addressing the issues presented in your notice. We will work with you as may be necessary to develop an action plan that outlines reasonable steps to be taken by each of us to resolve any issues presented in your notice. You may withhold payment of the amount(s) actually in dispute, and only those amounts, until we complete the action items outlined in the plan. If we are unable to complete the action items outlined in the action plan because of your failure to complete the items agreed to be done by you, then you will remit full payment of the invoice. We reserve the right to suspend delivery of all SaaS Services, including maintenance and support services, if you fail to pay an invoice not disputed as described above within fifteen (15) days of notice of our intent to do so.
Payment Disputes We will not exercise Our rights under Section 6.3 (Overdue Charges) or 6.4 (Suspension of Service and Acceleration) above if You are disputing the applicable charges reasonably and in good faith and are cooperating diligently to resolve the dispute.
