Free social value templates, government-published toolkits and downloadable checklists are a natural starting point. They're accessible and low-risk — but they have fundamental limitations that become apparent once you try to use them across different contract types and sizes.
Free templates are useful when you're exploring social value procurement for the first time, or when you need a quick reference document for internal discussions. They're also fine for very simple, low-value procurements where proportionality isn't a concern.
Use Clause & Effect for any tender where you need questions tailored to the specific procurement category, contract value and risk profile. Which, in practice, is every tender where sustainability criteria carry evaluation weight.
Free templates gave the procurement community a starting point. Clause & Effect builds on that foundation with dynamic proportionality, automatic evaluation criteria, and supplier-side tools — all still free. If you're using static templates for live tenders, you're working harder than you need to.