AIA contracting forms and conditions of the contract are often standardized documents incorporated by reference into the Specifications.
Some Owners, or CMs, or General Contractors, may want to throw out the standard documents and use their own that they've developed, perhaps for very well-intentioned reasons like a long history of successful work in a very specialized field. Or they may be trying to sidestep provisions they don't like. In the process, many other important protections for other parties may get left out. Many provisions may get left out that the rest of the design professionals' normal Specifications and even the Drawings may all HINGE ON. Also some provisions the Architect's insurance company would insist on if they knew, may get left out.
Also the AIA is not the only game in town. Standard documents exist from both the EJCDC (geared toward engineering projects and in many ways similar to the AIA's) and the AGC (geared toward their own "Consensus" which ironically did not include any facility management groups or design professional groups, and does not resemble any previous family of standard documents). The AIA has expanded it's catalog to address new construction delivery methods and electronic data.
WHY?
- The standard AIA documents are proven and comprehensive. Everyone's risks are better known through familiarity, reducing many types of costs.
- Incorporating standard documents by reference is very abbreviated and yet can have the same legal effect as if they were printed in their entirety.
- Even moderate changes can be made using supplements, keeping the benefits of standard forms.
- This saves on printing costs, and licensing fees.
- Your project manual may become a little thinner than the phone book now.
(and WHY NOT?)
- If desired for a no-excuses environment both in bidding and at the Project site, the standard documents can be published in their entirety for relatively little extra money. Some agencies require full documents.
- Or, if non-standard documents will be used, those HAVE to be printed in full. Keep in mind the costs of design and documentation go up, and the costs of the bids themselves and the construction administration, when documents are used that are not familiar within the industry and may vary in all kinds of ways from one project to the next.
- If you want to beat someone over the head with it, a thicker project manual just seems better. (Keep in mind it does not necessarily protect you to have lots of words if you do not know what they say and mean.)
WHAT
Agreement Form
006000 is a tidy place to in one quick swoop name the documents that REALLY bring legal force to the Contract Documents. As an Architect, you think because you showed things on the Drawings that the Contractor is legally bound to do them? Maybe. What kinds of papers did he/she sign with the Owner that say so? In the absence of a binding Agreement, all the documents can potentially be misconstrued as merely optional, pretty pictures of what the Architect had in mind but the Contractor and even the Owner may have this other idea over here they're going to do instead. So let's IDENTIFY the standard (hopefully) Agreement form that will enumerate the documents that will be contractual, and have some nice lines people can sign on, unless a handshake is plenty good and contracts scare people. The only thing to be scared of is NOT having a contract and not READING IT.General Conditions
The other hugely important document mentioned here is basically the "rules of the game" for what the parties involved in construction will be doing, who is responsible for what, and the overall process that is "typical" or you could say "normal" if there is such a thing, to the majority of construction projects. The General Conditions for the Construction Contract (AIA A201) includes many protections for everyone involved, in a no-surprises fashion, at least as much as one could hope for in an industry with so many facets and rapid changes!Agreement Supplements, and Supplementary Conditions
Revisions to or even complete replacement of the standard Agreement Forms and General Conditions are not uncommon. However, it is strongly recommended for parties who have professional responsibility for the design documents (i.e. at least the Architect of Record), and parties to the prime Construction Contract (i.e. the Owner and the Contractor), to seek legal counsel for guidance before finalizing any such changes.Supplements
Construction is never one-size-fits-all, it seems. A simple way to modify the standard documents while keeping all the benefits of lower costs and slimmer specs, is to use "supplements". Agreement Form Supplements, and Supplementary Conditions, can say which paragraphs of the standard document should be revised, deleted, or what new paragraphs should be inserted and where.Non-Standard or Other Documents
If another set of documents will be used, send drafts to the specifier, architect, and all consulting disciplines AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, because all other documents need to be reviewed to avoid conflicting requirements.Some Owners, or CMs, or General Contractors, may want to throw out the standard documents and use their own that they've developed, perhaps for very well-intentioned reasons like a long history of successful work in a very specialized field. Or they may be trying to sidestep provisions they don't like. In the process, many other important protections for other parties may get left out. Many provisions may get left out that the rest of the design professionals' normal Specifications and even the Drawings may all HINGE ON. Also some provisions the Architect's insurance company would insist on if they knew, may get left out.
Also the AIA is not the only game in town. Standard documents exist from both the EJCDC (geared toward engineering projects and in many ways similar to the AIA's) and the AGC (geared toward their own "Consensus" which ironically did not include any facility management groups or design professional groups, and does not resemble any previous family of standard documents). The AIA has expanded it's catalog to address new construction delivery methods and electronic data.
Other Forms
Lien Release Forms (see discussion under 006100), and a variety of others, may also be defined by simply referring to them in 006000.HOW
Incorporate by Reference
If you're not changing anything from the standard documents, and you want to save trees (or electrons and megabytes), you can just say:- The Owner/Contractor Agreement used for the Project shall be AIA Document X###, "<Title>", incorporated by reference. (Select the one that corresponds to the project delivery method being used. Of importance for example is the distinction between CM as Adviser, CM as Contractor, and General Contractor.)
- The General Conditions used for the Project shall be AIA Document X###, "<Title>", incorporated by reference.(Most often is the A201, except with the "Small Project" Agreement Forms.)
No comments:
Post a Comment