Contracts

Under British Columbia law, indemnities must not be given by government corporations (including public universities such as TRU), and are not binding unless approved by the executive director of the Risk Management Branch (RMB).

Therefore, all contracts that TRU enters into which have an indemnity given by the university must be sent to TRU Risk Management Services. We will send the contract to the RMB, provide liaison between the contracting department and the RMB to resolve any issues with the indemnity and receive the indemnity approval once granted. This is a separate but complementary process to contract review which is managed by TRU’s Office of General Counsel.

Indemnity approval can take a significant amount of time. Indemnities contained in simple contracts may be approved within 10 working days, but more indemnities contained in complex contracts, especially those with problematic clauses, may take more than a month for processing.

Any queries about indemnities should be sent to Risk Management Services.

Contracts with insurance clauses, or contracts that ask for proof of insurance or the provision of an insurance certificate, should also be sent to Risk Management Services for review. TRU carries a range of insurance coverages sufficient for most third parties. Requests for certificates must be accompanied by a copy of the contract or written agreement.