Clauses
How Curia categorises contract clauses on the Clauses tab, surfaces recommendations, and handles the relationship between General and Special Conditions.
The Clauses tab lists every General Condition and Special Condition Curia identified in the contract, with the category it matched, the recommendation that applies, and the fields to edit each one.
NSW NSW: details specific to New South Wales reviews
If your firm’s NSW reviews show a Special Conditions tab instead, see Special Conditions.
Each clause has a default visibility, set by its category, the General Condition / Special Condition relationship, whether a Library recommendation applies, and whether the clause can apply to the contract. Use the Visibility toggle on a clause card to override that default for this review: clauses with the toggle on appear in the final report, clauses with the toggle off don’t. Hover over or tap the toggle to see why the clause is on or off. Admins can make a change the firm default for the clause’s category. See Setting a firm default from a review.
Standard-form vendor warranty
VIC VIC: details specific to Victoria reviews
Curia detects whether the contract’s general conditions are a recognised standard form, from the vendor’s warranty that they match one. Categories can be set to show their General Conditions only when the general conditions aren’t a standard form.
When the general conditions aren’t recognised as a standard form, a Standard-form vendor warranty not detected warning appears at the top of the tab.
The clause list
The tab lists every clause Curia identified, each on its own card. Cards can be reordered by dragging.
Above the list sit a search box and three buttons:
- Search matches against category, title, content and clause reference.
- The filter button shows or hides the filters, which are shown by default.
- The sort button opens a Sort menu for document order or risk.
- Map opens a graphical view of the relationships between clauses, useful for tracing how a Special Condition modifies a General Condition.
There are two filters, and each option shows how many clauses it would leave:
- Show narrows by clause type, or to the clauses included in the report.
- Action narrows by the clause’s relationship to other clauses, such as amended, deleted or standalone.
A count under the controls shows how many clauses are listed. A number on the filter button shows how many filters are in use. When the list is narrowed, Clear filters resets the search and filters.
The drag handle is disabled while any search, filter or sort is active. Clear them to reorder.
Firm default filter
The tab opens on your firm’s default Show filter for the review’s state, either All clauses or Included in report. A filter you choose on a review lasts until you leave the page.
Admins can change the default from the tab. When the Show filter is set to All clauses or Included in report and that isn’t the current default, a link such as Set ‘Included in report’ as firm default sits beside the filters. Click it to make that filter the default for every review in the same state across your firm.
Curia confirms the change with an Undo button and an Open settings button.
See General settings to change the default from Settings.
What’s on a clause card
Each clause card shows:
- A reference badge, GC for a General Condition or SC for a Special Condition, with the clause’s number from the contract. An unnumbered clause is labelled Additional clause 1, Additional clause 2 and so on instead (see Unnumbered clauses). Click the badge to jump to the page in the PDF.
- The category Curia matched the clause to.
- A relationship badge for each clause it’s connected to (for example Deleted by SC14, Amended by SC9). Click a badge to scroll to the partner clause.
- A risk indicator on flagged categories.
- The Report title and Report content that will appear in the client report, both editable.
- A Visibility toggle controlling whether the clause appears in the report.
- A Comment field for internal notes.
- A Recommendation block, pulled from the clause’s category.
A trash icon appears only on custom clauses you added yourself. Clauses Curia extracted can’t be removed, so use the visibility toggle to suppress them instead.
Unnumbered clauses
Some contracts carry a block of special conditions the drafter never numbered. Curia reads these alongside the numbered conditions and gives each paragraph its own clause card, categorised and carrying a recommendation like any other clause.
Because there is no number in the contract to match them against, they are labelled Additional clause 1, Additional clause 2 and so on, in the order they appear in the document. The label is used wherever the clause is referenced, including in the client report. Where an unnumbered clause carries visible sub-points, those keep their letters, so a sub-point reads Additional clause 1.a.
How clauses are categorised
Curia categorises every clause during processing against the clause categories for the review’s state, then applies your firm’s settings for those categories from the Library.
Each category carries:
- A label.
- A default visibility that controls when its clauses appear in the report.
- Zero or more recommendation rules, each with the wording for the client report.
- An optional risk level.
Curia evaluates the rules on each clause and applies the first matching active rule’s recommendation. If no rule matches, the recommendation block is editable so you can write the recommendation for the client.
To change the visibility, wording, or rules of a category, open the Clauses tab of the Library.
General and Special Conditions
Curia identifies every General Condition a Special Condition deletes, amends or adds to, and shows the relationship on both cards.
When a Special Condition changes only part of a General Condition, the changed sub-clauses get their own card, separate from the rest of the General Condition.
When several Special Conditions act on one General Condition, the Action filter files it under the most significant change: Deleted, then Amended, then Extended.
When a Special Condition deletes a General Condition, the General Condition card is shown with a dashed red border and greyed text, and its visibility toggle is set off by default so it doesn’t appear in the report, unless a recommendation applies to it. The card stays in the list so you can see what was deleted; flip visibility back on if you want it included anyway.
Clauses that don’t apply to the contract
Curia turns off a General Condition that can’t apply to the contract, along with any Special Condition in the same category that deletes, amends or adds to it. This holds whatever your firm’s default visibility for the category, so the clause and its recommendation stay out of the report.
NSW NSW: details specific to New South Wales reviews
For example, the tenancy clauses are turned off on a vacant possession contract and the plan registration clauses on a registered lot. A tenancy clause gives the reason Off because this contract has no tenancy.
VIC VIC: details specific to Victoria reviews
For example, an owners corporation clause is turned off on a registered lot whose title search lists no owners corporation, with the reason Off because this contract has no owners corporation.
A Special Condition that stands on its own, such as one selling the property subject to a tenancy, is never turned off this way.
The card stays in the list under the All clauses filter. Hovering over the toggle says what the contract lacks. Toggle visibility on to include it, and its recommendation comes back with it. These clauses have no firm default link.
Fields fed by clauses
Curia reads the clauses that bear on some fields on other tabs and fills those fields in. Editing a field directly overrides whatever the clauses produced.
NSW NSW: details specific to New South Wales reviews
- Date for completion and Rescission date on the Exchange tab
- Purchaser GST liability and Purchase price GST on the Exchange tab
- Method of exchange, Is there a cooling off period? and Cooling off days on the Exchange tab
- Purchaser land tax liability on the Particulars tab, and Purchaser surcharge land tax liability if your firm has that field switched on
VIC VIC: details specific to Victoria reviews
- Date for completion and Rescission date on the Exchange tab
- Purchaser GST liability and Purchase price GST on the Exchange tab
- Subject to on the Particulars tab
Adding and removing clauses
To add a clause Curia missed, click Add new entry at the bottom of the list. The new clause is created as a Special Condition under the Other category; fill in the title and content as you would edit any clause.
The trash icon on custom clauses removes them after a confirmation. To suppress a clause Curia extracted, use the visibility toggle.
FAQ
Why does a General Condition have a red border?
A General Condition shows with a red border when a Special Condition deletes it. The card stays in the list as a record, and visibility is off so it won’t appear in the report unless a recommendation applies to it. Toggle visibility on to include it anyway.
Can I change a clause’s category?
No, clause categories cannot be changed but you can edit the text as required.
Where do the recommendations come from?
From the category’s rules in the Clauses tab of the Library. To change the wording for every future review, edit the rules there. To override on this review only, edit the recommendation on the card.
Can I delete a clause Curia extracted?
No. Curia-extracted clauses are kept so the GC/SC relationships and history stay accurate. To stop one appearing in the report, turn its visibility toggle off.
What does the Map button show?
A graphical view of every clause and the relationships between them, useful for tracing how Special Conditions modify General Conditions across a long contract.