2017 Release Of Revised AIA Standard Form Agreements

In April of 2017, the American Institute of Architects (“AIA”) released updated and revised versions of its standard form construction agreements as it does every 10 years. This newest release includes revised versions of the Owner-Contractor Agreements A101, A102, and A103, the A201 General Conditions, and the B101 Owner-Architect Agreement. The AIA also issued modified versions of its other forms that govern relationships between Owners, Contractors, Architects, Sub-Contractors and Consultants1.

While AIA's 2017 release of contract forms includes numerous revisions, this article discusses a sample of 10 revisions. The Stites & Harbison Construction Service Group will soon be conducting a series of workshops that will explore the release of the AIA 2017 contract documents in greater depth. Please watch for an announcement as to the dates and locations for these workshops. The AIA 2017 standard form construction agreements release includes the following updates:

• Termination Fee: For many years the AIA forms have contained a provision that allows the Owner to terminate the contract for convenience. The 2007 version of the A201 termination for convenience clause not only allowed the Contractor to recover payment for completed work and cost of termination, but it also provided for the Contractor to recover overhead and profit on unperformed work. Now, section 14.4 of the A201™—2017 gives the parties the option of agreeing to a termination fee. Therefore, the parties are free to negotiate the amount, if any, of a termination fee that is appropriate for the particular project.

• Liquidated Damages/Incentives: The 2017 AIA Owner-Contractor agreements have blanks that provide the parties with options to include liquidated damages for late completion as well as bonuses to incentivize early completion. As with the termination fee provision discussed above, the form defers to the parties' agreement on those specific monetary terms.

• Guaranteed Maximum Price: In the A102™—2017 Guaranteed Maximum Price (“GMP”) Contract, section 12.1.5 specifies that the schedule of values will now include a contingency line item for costs included in the GMP that are not allocated to other line items. The new form also addresses a source of prior confusion by clarifying in section 12.1.5.2 that the GMP is the total cost of the work for all items listed in the schedule of values, NOT a separate GMP for each line item.

Choice of Law: As in the past, the A2012017...

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