WHAT IT CONTAINS
The Service Level Agreement, clause by clause
A Service Level Agreement turns availability and support promises into measured targets by defining the denominator, the excluded minutes, the observation window, the claim procedure and the remedy that follows a miss.
This page describes a class of document in general terms. It is not legal advice, it is not about your situation, and it is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Reading it creates no attorney-client relationship.
01
The instrument in one view
Common Paper's Version 2.0 SLA has four numbered sections: uptime, response time, remedies and definitions. The short length hides the important work in the variables incorporated through the applicable Order Form: the target percentages, support channel, response target, credit schedule and any scheduled downtime.
The calculation language matters because an uptime percentage without its denominator does not identify what was measured. The published form subtracts excluded minutes and scheduled downtime from available minutes, measures by calendar month and narrows a partial month to the days inside the subscription period.
The result is a measurement instrument whose variables live in the Order Form and whose calculation rules live in the SLA.
02
Clause order
- 1Target uptime and the provider's stated effort standard.
- 2Availability formula, calendar window and partial-month treatment.
- 3Target support-response time and the named support channel.
- 4Response-time calculation from request to specific acknowledgement.
- 5Uptime and response-time credit triggers.
- 6Notice deadline and evidence supplied with a credit request.
- 7Credit cap, expiry and application to future fees.
- 8Termination trigger after repeated target misses.
- 9Exclusive-remedy statement.
- 10Definitions of available, downtime, excluded and scheduled minutes.
03
The measurements the document must pin
| Datum | Published-form treatment |
|---|---|
| Observation window | Calendar month, narrowed for a partial first or final month |
| Available minutes | Total minutes less exclusions and scheduled downtime |
| Downtime source | Provider monitoring, checked against stated exclusions |
| Support clock start | Request sent to the named support channel |
| Support clock stop | Specific human acknowledgement, not an automated response |
| Credit request | Notice within seven days after the affected month |
| Credit ceiling | Eight percent of cloud-service fees in one subscription period |
| Termination trigger | Two of three consecutive months below target, with timely notice |
04
The mark set on the incorporated SLA
- Provider signature
- signature, printed name, title and date on the Order Form
- Customer signature
- signature, printed name, title and date on the Order Form
- Target uptime
- one percentage field
- Target response time
- one duration field
- Support channel
- one text field
- Credit schedule
- one structured field
- Reference-form field count
- 12
- Default routing
- parallel with the Order Form
05
What does not belong in the percentage
The form keeps the service target separate from the exceptions used in the calculation. General internet failures, systems outside the provider's control, unauthorised use and force-majeure events are listed as Excluded Minutes; scheduled downtime is removed separately.
That split is the page's varying datum. Two services can both print 99.9 percent and promise materially different availability because their exclusion sets, maintenance windows, monitoring sources, claim deadlines and credit caps differ.
Clause text quoted from Common Paper standard agreements, © Common Paper, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
SOURCES
Where each figure came from
1. “Provider and Customer agree to calculate availability of the Cloud Service as the total number of Available Minutes minus the number of Downtime Minutes, divided by the total number of Available Minutes, measured in a calendar month.”
Common Paper · https://commonpaper.com/standards/service-level-agreement/2.0/ · checked 2026-07-30
2. “An automated response is not a specific acknowledgement for purposes of this SLA.”
Common Paper · https://commonpaper.com/standards/service-level-agreement/2.0/ · checked 2026-07-30
3. “Service Credits will not accumulate within a single Subscription Period in an amount more than 8% of Cloud Service Fees for that Subscription Period.”
Common Paper · https://commonpaper.com/standards/service-level-agreement/2.0/ · checked 2026-07-30
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