Service level agreement (SLA) template

Service Level Agreement

Parties: Provider · Customer

1. Purpose and relationship to the service contract

This agreement sets the service levels the Provider aims to meet for the services it provides to the Customer, how they are measured and what the Customer receives if they are missed. It is added to the following contract between the parties (the service contract) and applies to the services under it. Service contract: [[Name and date of the service contract]]

If this agreement and the service contract conflict on service levels or service credits, this agreement prevails. In all other respects the service contract applies unchanged.

2. Services covered

This agreement covers the following services:

[[Describe the services and deliverables]]

The service levels apply to the live environment of these services, not to trial, test or beta features, which the Provider marks as such.

3. Service levels

The Provider aims to meet the following service levels in each calendar month:

Availability: the services are available at least [[99.5]]% of the time, measured as the clause on measurement describes.

Response: the Provider responds to a reported fault within the times in the clause on support hours and severity levels.

Resolution: the Provider aims to fix a fault, or provide a workaround, within the times in that clause.

Other service levels: [[Any other service level, e.g. longest page load time or data restore time, or none]]

Service levels are targets the Provider works towards. What follows if one is missed is set out in the clauses on service credits and on credits and other remedies.

4. Measurement

Availability is measured with [[monitoring tool or method]] at [[the Provider’s servers / the public entry point of the service]], at intervals of no more than [[1]] minute. A service counts as unavailable when, because of a fault on the Provider’s side, it cannot be used for its main purpose for at least [[5]] minutes in a row. Planned maintenance and the exclusions below do not count.

Monthly availability is the share of the time in a calendar month during which the service was available, after the time covered by the exclusions is taken out.

The Provider’s records are used for the measurement. If the Customer disagrees with a figure, it may ask for the data behind it, and the parties look at it together in good faith.

5. Support hours and severity levels

The Customer reports faults to [[support channel and contact details]] on [[business days]] from [[09:00]] to [[18:00]] in the time zone of [[City]]. The Provider assigns a severity level to each fault when it is reported, after consulting the Customer. The times below are counted in business hours from the moment the report reaches the support channel:

Critical (the service is unavailable or unusable for most users): response within [[1]] hour, workaround or fix aimed for within [[8]] hours.

High (an important function is impaired, with a workaround that works): response within [[4]] hours, fix aimed for within [[2]] business days.

Normal (a minor fault or a question): response within [[1]] business day, fix aimed for within [[5]] business days.

Critical faults reported outside these hours: [[handled from the next business hour / handled on the emergency line given]]

6. Planned maintenance

The Provider may carry out planned maintenance that interrupts the services for no more than [[4]] hours per calendar month. It announces the maintenance at least [[48]] hours in advance and, where practicable, carries it out outside usual business hours, in [[the maintenance window]]. Time used for announced planned maintenance within these limits does not count as unavailability.

Urgent maintenance needed for security may be done at shorter notice; unless the parties agree otherwise, the time used for it counts as unavailability.

7. Exclusions

The following do not count as unavailability or as a missed service level: faults or delays caused by the Customer’s own systems, software, network or internet connection, or by what the Customer or its users do or fail to do in breach of the service contract; third-party services that the Customer chose and that are not part of the services; events beyond the Provider’s reasonable control, such as natural disasters, power or network failures outside its systems, official orders and attacks it could not reasonably prevent; a suspension of the services that the service contract allows; and the use of trial, test or beta features.

The Provider tells the Customer when it relies on an exclusion and, on request, gives its reasons.

8. Reporting and review

The Provider gives the Customer a report within [[10]] days after the end of each calendar month, showing the availability achieved, the faults reported with their severity and their response and resolution times, and any service credit due. The parties meet or talk by video call [[every quarter]] to review the report and agree what to improve.

9. Service credits

If the availability in a calendar month is below the target in the clause on service levels, the Customer is entitled to a service credit, as a percentage of the monthly fee for the affected services:

Availability below [[99.5]]% but at least [[99.0]]%: a credit of [[5]]%.

Availability below [[99.0]]% but at least [[95.0]]%: a credit of [[15]]%.

Availability below [[95.0]]%: a credit of [[30]]%.

The credits for one month together do not exceed [[30]]% of the monthly fee for the affected services. The Customer must ask for a credit in writing or in electronic form within [[30]] days after receiving the report for that month, naming the month and the reason. An agreed credit is deducted from the next invoice, or paid out if no further invoice will follow; otherwise credits are not paid in cash.

Other credits: [[none / credits for missed response times, as agreed]]

10. Credits and other remedies

Service credits are the Customer’s usual remedy for a missed availability level. They do not limit any right that the Customer has under the law that applies and that cannot be excluded, and they do not apply where the Provider caused the failure by intent or gross negligence.

If availability is below [[95.0]]% in [[3]] of any [[6]] months, or the same critical fault is not fixed within [[5]] business days, the Customer may end the affected services by notice in writing or in electronic form, with effect from the date the notice states, and receives a refund of the fees it has paid for the period after the end.

11. Customer’s part

The Customer reports faults promptly and with the details the Provider needs to trace them, keeps a named contact available during support hours, gives the Provider the access to its own systems that the Provider reasonably needs to fix a fault, and keeps the equipment and software it is responsible for in working order. Time during which the Provider waits for information or access that the Customer should supply does not count towards response and resolution times or towards unavailability.

12. Changes to the service levels

The Provider may improve the service levels at any time. A change that lowers them, or a change to the credits, is valid only if both parties agree to it in writing or in electronic form. The parties review the service levels together at least once in every [[12]] months.

13. Term and order of precedence

This agreement starts on the effective date and applies for as long as the service contract does. If the service contract or the services end, this agreement ends for them. Credits that arose before the end can still be claimed within the period in the clause on service credits.

This agreement and the service contract together are the entire agreement of the parties on their subject. Amendments are valid only if both parties agree to them in writing or in electronic form.

14. Governing law and disputes

This agreement is governed by the law stated under Governing law. The parties will first try to settle any dispute in good faith. Otherwise the courts stated under Jurisdiction decide, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.

Governing law

[[Country or state whose law applies]]

Jurisdiction

[[Courts that decide disputes, e.g. the courts of your city]]