Revised Purchase Order Terms and Conditions
March 3, 2022
First published December 3, 2021
Procurement and Payment Services recently worked with the Office of General Counsel to update Northwestern’s standard Purchase Order Terms and Conditions. Key changes include:
- Full refresh of all terms to cover more purchasing situations and meet current University standards
- Incorporates input from key University stakeholders (g., OGC, Risk Management, Export Controls, etc.)
- Terms now expressly cover services and incorporate key terms for services arrangements (g., warranties, IP, confidentiality, termination, etc.)
- Better-defined process for acceptance of goods/services
- Updated warranties consistent with market practice and current University approach
- Delivery terms have now been updated to DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), which provides increased protection to Northwestern over the previous FOB Delivered term standard. Learn more about shipping terms on our shipping guide webpage.
- Expanded remedies to better protect the University in recurring “pain point” areas, such as:
- rejection of non-conforming goods/services
- late delivery
- product recalls
- contractual indemnities for acts/omissions of vendors and breach of contract
- specific remedies for breach of confidentiality and improper promotional use of Northwestern name/logo
These new PO terms will go into effect on January 1, 2022. The link at the bottom of every PO will take vendors to the revised terms and conditions. To preview the new PO terms, visit the PO Terms and Conditions webpage.
If you have any questions, please contact Procurement and Payment Services at procurement@northwestern.edu or 847.491.8120.