Linking parent-child contracts

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated June 11, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Linking parent-child contracts

    TheRelated contract requeststab in ServiceNow displays the full contract family hierarchy for a given contract request, including parent, child, sibling, and grandchild contracts. This feature enables you to link parent and child contracts, inherit fields from parent contracts, or unlink contracts as needed. When contracts are linked, the parent contract information is automatically populated, and associated contract repository records are linked to maintain consistency.

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    Key Features

    • Contract Family Hierarchy View: See parent, siblings, children, and grandchildren of contract requests within the hierarchy, with the current contract request visually highlighted.
    • Access Control: Only contract requests you have roles for (assigned fulfiller, group manager, collaborator, watchlist user, requested-for user, or opened-by user) are visible.
    • Automatic Child Record Creation for Amendments: Amendments are created as child records and appear in the hierarchy automatically.
    • Linking Actions:
      • Link contract: Establishes a parent-child relationship without copying fields. Parent contract must not be canceled, and specific state conditions apply.
      • Link and inherit fields: Establishes a parent-child relationship and copies configured fields from the parent. Requires configured field mapping and contract requests to be in Draft, Work in progress, or Awaiting review states.
    • Linking Restrictions:
      • Only one parent contract can be linked.
      • Parent contract must be a single contract type (own paper or third-party paper) and not canceled.
      • Contracts cannot be linked in a way that creates circular parent-child relationships.
      • Users must be assigned, group manager, or collaborator to link contracts.

    Practical Usage

    • Link parent contracts during drafting and negotiation phases to define contract hierarchies.
    • Choose between linking only or linking with field inheritance based on whether you want to copy parent contract details.
    • Remove linked parent contracts when incorrect links exist or are no longer needed.

    What to Expect

    By using this contract linking functionality, ServiceNow customers can maintain clear and accurate contract hierarchies, streamline contract management by inheriting parent contract details, and ensure secure access to related contracts based on user roles. This improves contract visibility, consistency, and control throughout the contract lifecycle.

    The contract family hierarchy in the Related contract requests tab shows all related contract requests and lets you link, inherit from, and unlink parent contract requests.

    When you open a contract request and navigate to the Related contract requests tab, the tab displays the complete contract family hierarchy for that contract request. The hierarchy includes parent, child, sibling, and grandchild records.

    From the same tab, you can link a parent contract request, inherit fields from it, or remove an existing link. When linked, the Parent contract field in the contract request Details tab is automatically populated with the parent contract request number. The associated contract repository records for the parent and child contract requests are also automatically linked.

    The Related contract requests tab displays the following records:

    • The parent contract request of the currently open record
    • All sibling contract requests — other children of the same parent
    • Children and grandchildren of sibling records
    • Direct children and grandchildren of the currently open record

    A visual indicator highlights the contract request that is currently open, distinguishing it from other records in the hierarchy.

    Access control for related contract requests

    The Related contract requests tab displays only the contract records within the family hierarchy that you have access to. Records you're not authorized to view aren't displayed.

    Access to a contract request is determined by your role in that contract request. You can view a contract request in the hierarchy if you're one of the following:

    • The assigned contract fulfiller
    • A group manager or fulfiller of the assignment group
    • A collaborator
    • A watchlist user
    • The requested-for user
    • The opened-by user

    Amendments in the hierarchy

    When you create an amendment contract request, it is automatically created as a child record of the originating contract request and appears in the hierarchy on the Related contract requests tab.

    Choosing a linking action

    The Related contract requests tab provides two linking actions.

    Table 1. Linking actions
    Action Use when Additional prerequisites
    Link contract You want to establish the parent-child relationship only, without copying any fields from the parent. The parent can be a contract request in any state except Cancelled.

    If the child contract is in Contract signed state, the parent must be in Contract signed or Closed complete state.
    Link and inherit fields You want to establish the parent-child relationship and automatically copy configured fields from the parent into the child contract request. Contract request must be in Draft, Work in progress, or Awaiting review state only.

    Parent-child field mapping must be configured. For more information, see Configure field mapping for parent-child contract linking.

    The parent must not be a multiple contracts type third-party contract request.

    The following conditions apply to both actions:

    • You must be assigned to the contract request, be a group manager, or a collaborator.
    • The parent contract must not be in a Canceled state.
    • Only one parent contract can be selected while linking.
    • The parent contract must be a single contract type using own paper or third-party paper.
    • A contract can't be linked as a parent of any contract before it in the hierarchy. For example, if Master Service Agreement (MSA) is the parent of Statement Of Work (SOW), then SOW can't be set as the parent of MSA.