A clause is a specific statement in a legal agreement that relates to a point of understanding between the parties engaged in the contract. A clause dictates certain conditions under which the parties agree to act during the term of the contract.

Smart clauses are part of a contract that can be reconciled between versions of a document and are noted in the agreement record. If you click a smart clause in OCC, you can see a border for that clause. If a clause is not required, OCC lets you delete it from the document and agreement record. A clause marked for deletion is locked and you cannot modify, swap, or comment on it until deletion is complete. Use the context menu to delete the clause. If you accept the changes in true-up, you accept deleting the clause, and it is removed from the document. If you reject the changes in true-up, you reject clause deletion, and the clause is unlocked for editing, swapping, or commenting.

You can delete smart clauses by using the context menu or offline (via parallel review process, MS Word, XAC 1.0, or XAC 2.0). Few clauses require approval for deletion from the document. OCC identifies such clauses and shows the associated approval process at the time of deletion. The agreement record in the smart pane captures the clause deletion entry when you publish the document after accepting the clause deletion in true-up mode. The deleted clause, which is reconciled to the agreement record, is removed from the document. The agreement record is updated to “Deleted” for the clause which is removed from the document. No deletion action is captured, if you insert and delete a clause in the same session and it is not reconciled. 

OCC does not reconcile deleted smart fields to the agreement record. If you delete a smart field from a document in OCC, accept the deletion, and publish the document, OCC removes the smart field from the document but does not reconcile to the agreement record. This makes it easier to identify the deleted smart fields. No validation error shows for such fields when you publish the document.

To delete a smart clause

  1. Open a document that contains a smart clause.
  2. Select the clause to delete.
    A context menu () is displayed beside the clause.

  3. Click the context menu () next to the clause and select Delete Clause from the dropdown.
    The clause gets redlined in the document and a Clause Locked tag appears on the top left corner of the clause. In the Smart Data pane, the modified icon () and a Lock sign are displayed for that clause.

    The Delete Clause option of the Context menu is not available for a swapped clause until you accept the changes in True-Up or all the approval actions (in case of approval required) on the clause are complete.

    You must get the Clause Approval Required tag on the top left corner for the clause that needs approval for deletion. You can follow the approval process to delete such clauses.

  4. Navigate to true-up mode.

  5. Click the Accept Suggestion icon () in the true-up mode to accept the clause deletion.
    A pop-up asks, "Are you sure you want to delete the clause?"

    You can click Cancel to close the Delete Clause pop-up.

  6. Click Delete Clause.
    A "Clause Deleted" message is displayed on the top of the document. In the Smart Data pane, the modified icon () changes to the Info icon () for that clause.

If you publish the document, the clause and the Info icon () are removed from the Smart Data pane.

If you insert a clause and delete it in the same session, reconciliation does not occur even after you accept clause deletion. You must not get any "Clause Deleted" message on the top of the document. In the Smart Data pane, no modified icon () or Info icon () is shown for that clause.

To send a deleted clause for approval

OCC identifies some clauses that need approval for deletion from the document. You must follow the approval process to delete such clauses. To delete a clause that needs approval, look for the blue Clause Approval Required tag on the top left corner of the clause, and in the smart data pane, look for a blue rubber stamp icon for that clause. If you click the tag on the clause or the blue rubber stamp icon in the smart data pane, you can see the associated approval process required to delete the clause. If you cancel or undo the deletion process, no approval required tag shows for the clause, and the clause is restored to normal. To send a clause for approval, see Working with Clause Approvals.