Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
if nothing else will provide a possible ground for the fi rm loss of insurance. In other
words it is likely that insurance companies will not provide coverage for the archi-
tect or engineer companies above the standard of care, even if they promise perfor-
mance beyond and above that.
7.5
Summary
The most comprehensive set of contract documents for architectural and engineering
projects are provided by American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Engineers
Joint Contact Documents Committee (EJCDC). It is to the benefi t of the professionals
generally to use these documents as the basis of an agreement between them and the
owners. These documents have been written carefully to defi ne the responsibilities
of both professionals and owners. These documents have been vigilantly reviewed
and adjusted by architects, engineers, contractors, and insurance companies during
the time, to minimize the possibility of unexpected interpretations from the clauses
in the agreements. Of course some owners hesitate to sign contracts unless they are
using their own version of contract documents. In this case the professional should
be very cautious about what he is agreeing to, and it is very important to let the
company attorney and insurer review the contract and revise it before they commit
to the contract.
When a professional commits to do a project and therefore engages in a contract
based on a client generated document (or as a matter of fact based on any type of
contract), there are a few issues that should be carefully looked into and cautiously
worded in the contract agreement to help protecting the professionals and their fi rms
against the possible future troubles.
As it was discussed earlier any provisions that imply any kind of guarantee or
certifi cation including certifi cation of compliance to codes should be carefully elim-
inated from the contract wording.
Another very important thing to consider is to make sure there is a clear explana-
tion of the scope of the deliverables. Professionals should make it completely clear
what is the fi nal product that they are going to provide to the owner and what is not
part of the agreement to be delivered as this fi nal product. It is always to the benefi t
of all the involved parties and also the project itself to make it clear what are the
expectations from each party which is involved in the project in advance.
And fi nally, the professional shall do his best to provide maximum effort to
deliver the project at least in-line with the common standard of care without allowing
any type of negligence. it is as important for the professionals not to allow any
language implying a performance level above the common standard of care to be
added to the contract documents, and do not accept any wording implying higher
threshold for fault acceptance than what is explained in AIA or EJCDC documents.
