Vol. 9, No. 6, Pg. 32. New Editions of Construction Industry Contracts.

• Author: By J. Kershaw Spong

South Carolina Lawyer

1998.

Vol. 9, No. 6, Pg. 32.

New Editions of Construction Industry Contracts

32NEW EDITIONS of Construction Industry ContractsBy J. Kershaw SpongContracts are commonly used in the construction industry. This article calls attention to the pubilcation of the updated edition of the widely used American Institute of Architect's (AIA) contract documents.

33A construction project often involves numerous parties--the owner, architect, contractor, subcontractor, suppliers, surety, etc.--who have different responsibilities and roles.

The performance of their responsibilities can directly and significantly impact the other parties on a project; yet they may have no direct contractual privity with each other. In order to coordinate these roles and tie the parties to an overall contractual framework, the construction industry has developed a set of integrated contract documents.

The most widely used set of contract documents in the construction industry are published by the AIA. Of these, the general conditions of the contract for construction, AIA Document A201, more than any other document, defines the rules by which the construction industry functions. More precedents have been made and more definitions established on the basis of this document than any other.

In a typical project, an architect has prepared a complete set ofcontract documents (plans and specifications). The contractual relationship between the architect and the owner is set forth in the AIA B141, the owner-architect agreement. The contractor submits a proposal based on those contract documents and, if successful, signs with the owner, AIA A101, the owner-contractor agreement.

The contractor may then subcontract various portions of the work with subcontractors by executing the AIA A401, the contractor-subcontractor agreement. These contracts all incorporate by reference AIA A201.

AIA also publishes four other sets of documents, as follows:

1. The design/build family, updated and republished in 1996;

2. The construction management (CMA) family comprises documents to be used when the construction manager serves as contractor and also includes agreements to be used when the construction manager serves as an advisor to the owner;

3. The small projects family, which was published in 1993 in response to a mandate from the AIA membership, is intended to provide a...