In the US, putting a capital asset into place has traditionally been a disjointed and inefficient activity. Pressure from clients has forced both design firms and construction contractors to recognize that the process has to work more efficiently. Project teams shifting focus to project success rather than project disputes has resulted in a blurring of the... Continue Reading →
AIA publishes updated residential projects contracts and condo guide
The contract documents program of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released updated residential contracts for both single-family residential and multi-family residential or mixed-use projects. It also published an updated version of their Condominium Project Guide, which is available for free without a documents subscription.Revised Residential Documents The revised residential documents are B107-2020, Standard... Continue Reading →
AIA releases three COVID-19 tools
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released two new resources and one revised resource to support employers, public officials, and design professionals with re-occupying buildings more safely.The AIA embarked on an initiative to explore how design strategies, backed by science, can be a public health solution. “Reopening America: Strategies for Safer Buildings” is intended... Continue Reading →
Using AIA scope documents for non-traditional design services
Shortly after releasing the 2017 versions of the traditional owner-architect agreements, the AIA Contract Documents Committee published detailed scope of services agreements that assign professional duties to supplement or replace traditional services. These AIA specialty services documents can be added to any base owner/architect agreement to form a contract. B201-2017, Standard Form of Architect’s Services:... Continue Reading →
AIA releases mid-year Consensus Construction Forecast
The mid-year conclusions from this year’s AIA Consensus Forecast indicate that slower growth in the economy has also affected the construction industry. What is the AIA Consensus Forecast? “It’s conducted twice a year with the leading nonresidential construction forecasters in the United States including, McGraw-Hill Construction, IHS-Global Insight, Moody’s Economy.com, FMI, Reed Construction Data, Associated... Continue Reading →
The uniform location of subject matter should guide information placement
Construction contracts typically include several components. Key business terms are found in the agreement form, which are then modified by the general and supplementary conditions and the drawings and specifications. In addition, key contract-related information is sometimes included in bidding documents, such as instructions to bidders and bid forms. For years, there was no generally... Continue Reading →
Why are some words in your contracts capitalized and others aren’t’?
I recently received a telephone call from a policyholder asking this question because of a minor issue that arose when the term “notice of award” was capitalized in the general conditions, but was not capitalized in the instructions to bidders. His attorney advised that “it could be argued” (a not-unusual term for an attorney to... Continue Reading →