Architect's Contract Administration

AuthorCarol J. Patterson - Ross J. Altman - Stephen A. Hess - Allen Overcash
Pages197-223
CHAPTER
197
7
Architect’s Contract
Administration
CARL J. CIRCO
7.01 IntroductIon
Owners often hire design professionals to provide contract administration ser-
vices in addition to furnishing drawings and specications for the project. In
this context, the term “contract administration” refers to a wide range of activ-
ities that assist the owner in its contractual relationship with the general con-
tractor. Those activities may include providing information to the contractor,
inspecting the progress of construction, preparing documents in connection
with changes to the work, helping to resolve disputes between the owner and
the contractor, and many other administrative tasks. Although an owner might
hire an architect, an engineer, or some other professional to provide contract
administration, for convenience this chapter presumes that an architect is pro-
viding those services.
In general, the owner and the architect may agree on whatever contract
administration services and procedures they think most appropriate for the
project. For many projects, however, the owner retains the same architect who
prepares the drawings and specications to provide a comprehensive array
pat54645_01_b01_001-282.indd 197 6/28/19 2:04 PM
CONSTRUCTION LAW
198
of contract administration services that conform to established industry cus-
toms. The 2017 editions of AIA Documents B101
1 (especially section 3.6) and
A2 012 (especially sections 4.2 and 15.2) illustrate one of the most common
arrangements for contract administration for a commercial project using the
Design-Bid-Build project delivery method. For that reason, much of this chap-
ter discusses the architect’s contract administration role in a way that reects
the contract administration provisions of these AIA documents. You may want
to review these AIA provisions in conjunction with this chapter.
7.02 nature and scope oF archItect’s role In
contract admInIstratIon
As you will see from the materials in this chapter, contract administration may
involve many different activities and may raise several important legal issues.
Depending on the owner’s needs, the architect may provide such extensive
services during the construction phase of a project that the architect occupies
a central role throughout the entire construction process. But in other projects,
the architect may be involved only in discrete administrative functions once
construction begins. For still other projects, the architect may not be involved
in any of the administrative aspects of the project at all.
The main purpose of this section is to familiarize you with the general con-
cept of contract administration. Additionally, because agency law provides the
underlying legal construct for certain key aspects of contract administration,
the concluding subdivision in this section briey highlights some of the agency
law considerations that will be relevant to certain issues presented in later sec-
tions of this chapter.
A. Overview of Contract Administration
The contract for design services normally establishes the nature and scope of
the architect’s role in contract administration.3 For most projects, nothing in
the industry or the law requires the architect to have an ongoing role during
construction; however, licensing regulations may require that certain activities
relating to the project must be performed only by, or under the supervision of,
1. American Institute of Architects, AIA Document B101–2017, Standard Form of Agreement
between Owner and Architect (2017) [hereinafter AIA Document B101–2017].
2. American Institute of Architects, AIA Document A201–2017, General Conditions of the
Contract for Construction (2017) [hereinafter AIA Document A201–2017].
3. See AIA Document B101–2017 supra note 1, §3.6.1.1 (providing that the architect will pro-
vide contract administration as contemplated by AIA Document A201–2017).
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