AIA contracts
Hi… just looking to get some info. Our trusted engineering company sent a standard AIA contract to cover our business with a contractor for an extensive exterior reno of coop building. A consulted lawyer (to review the AIA contract for us) stated that it would be cheaper to use them to write their own contract…
Hi… just looking to get some info. Our trusted engineering company sent a standard AIA contract to cover our business with a contractor for an extensive exterior reno of coop building. A consulted lawyer (to review the AIA contract for us) stated that it would be cheaper to use them to write their own contract vs extensively editing the AIA contract. I don’t know how to begin to interpret that… any thoughts on what I need to consider?
thanks
The logistics of editing an AIA contract are easy as long as the lawyer has the AIA Contract documents software. A lawyer qualified to work on construction related contracts should have this software. But navigating through the language to edit an AIA contract to better protect an owner is usually tedious, labor intensive, and expensive.
But what the other posters mention is also important. If your lawyer prepares a manuscript contract, the engineer or contractor must pay their lawyer to review it from end to end and comment on it. That does cost extra time and money and it can strain your relationship with your engineer or contractor.
Nevertheless, I usually urge owners to approach AIA contracts with extreme caution. Why? The quote on the other end of this URL explains it best IMHO: http://bit.ly/4GsXBg
agree w ed and jcarch, you can handle changes via editing or addendum.
Trust your engineer. Its likely his/her firm has more experience with these agreements than your lawyer. Editing an AIA is no big deal especially since it can be purchased in digital, editable form. Ed Kopel Architects
I guess the question is why the contract needs extensive editing…the AIA, or other ‘industry standard’ contracts are useful because they’re ready to go off the shelf…things may need to be tweaked a bit to reflect the specifics of your project, but if you’re re-writing the thing, you’re going to spend lots of $, and lots of time, to do so.
The fact that your lawyer doesn’t have a standard edited (even extensively edited) AIA ready to print up tells me that they’re not too familiar w/ the document…or with some of the standard checks and balances that any contract for construction should have. I would find a lawyer who has an edited version ready to go, as she’ll be well versed in the issues.
I’ve encountered a few lawyers over the years who say “the AIA is garbage, and here’s a better contract.” This presents several problems for the architect or contractor.
First, I have to get my lawyer involved…that costs $, and I’m going to pass this cost, which to me is unneccesary, on to you.
Second, many of the one-off contracts are horribly one sided, and no reputable contractor would sign them.
I understand that an aggressive attorney sees himself as protecting his clients interest, but if no one will sign the contract, you have a problem.
Third, all parties have to be very careful that by using a one-off agreement, they haven’t inadvertently created gaps in responsibility/protection/etc…again this takes time and $ to do properly, where with the standard contract language it’s been well vetted by legions of lawyers being available to the public.
So think carefully before completely reinventing the wheel.