How renewal decisions work
Every contract term carries one renewal decision, recorded in the "Renewal Decision" card on the contract's detail page. This article explains the five decisions, when each is available, how notice deadlines work, and how a decision settles or resets.
One decision per term
A contract holds one renewal decision at a time for its current term. The "Renewal Decision" card on the Contract Details page shows the current decision, the "Term Ends" date, and the "Notice Deadline". Before you record anything, the decision shows as "Undecided".
Recording or changing a decision needs the Manager or Admin role for the Contracts module, and decisions are managed on the contract's owning site. If the contract is inherited from a parent site, the card shows "Inherited contract. Decisions can be changed on the owning site."
The five decisions and when each applies
You choose between five decisions: "Let It Renew", "Reviewing", "Give Notice", "Renew or Replace", and "Let It Lapse". "Reviewing" and "Renew or Replace" are both still in progress: they need follow-up, such as an owner or a linked successor, before the term ends.
Let It Renew lets an auto-renewing contract continue into its next term. Only auto-renewing contracts offer it.
Reviewing marks the decision as still being worked on. It carries a "Reviewing Owner", and the decision cannot be saved without one. Any decision can also carry an optional note.
Give Notice records your intention to end the contract when the term ends.
Renew or Replace means the service will continue under a new or replacement agreement. It stays open until a successor contract is linked.
Let It Lapse lets a fixed-term contract end without replacement.
Which options you see depends on the contract. Auto-renewing contracts offer every decision except "Let It Lapse". Fixed-term contracts before expiry offer every decision except "Let It Renew". An expired fixed-term contract offers only "Let It Lapse" and "Renew or Replace". A contract with no term end offers no decisions at all.
Notice periods and deadlines
The "Notice Deadline" is the term end minus the contract's notice period. For an auto-renewing contract the deadline works back from the next renewal date; for a fixed-term contract, from the expiry date. If the contract has no notice period, the card shows "No notice period" instead of a date.
The deadline matters because notice must be recorded before it passes. If notice is recorded after the deadline, the card marks it "Served late".
Intent versus recorded notice
"Give Notice" records your intention to end the contract. It does not itself record that notice was served: until you complete the notice, the card shows "Notice not yet recorded".
Notice becomes recorded through the "Record Notice Given" dialog. Once recorded, the decision shows as "Notice Given" and the card shows the "Notice Served" date.
When a decision settles or resets
Changing the decision replaces the current decision for that term. Earlier decision entries are not lost: they stay in the card's "Decision History" section.
A "Renew or Replace" decision settles when you link a successor contract. The card then shows "Renewal Secured".
A superseded contract keeps showing "Successor in place" on its Related Agreements card while its term still runs. If that agreement auto-renews, you will also see the warning: "A successor is in place, but this agreement will still renew unless notice is given." Once the term ends, the contract's status shows as "Superseded".
An amendment that changes the term end resets the decision for the new term, and you will see: "The term end changed. The previous decision is now in history; the new term is Undecided."
Across your contracts, the Notice Deadlines insight groups open decisions as "Undecided", "In Progress", or "Settled", so you can see at a glance which contracts still need a decision.
To record a decision step by step, see Record a renewal decision. To record served notice, see Record notice given. For what happens after you choose "Renew or Replace", see Renew or replace a contract. For the module as a whole, see What is Contracts.