Construction Law Report - Special Edition, AIA’s New Form A201™-2007 General Conditions

On November 5, 2007, The American Institute of Architects released its revised project forms for the construction industry, including a revised A201™ General Conditions form. Seyfarth Shaw has prepared a Special Edition of its Construction Law Report which discusses some of the new provisions in the A201-2007 form.

And, for the first time ever, extending over a fifty year period, the Associated General Contractors of America (“AGC”) has declined to endorse the AIA General Conditions. In its October 9, 2007 letter to AIA explaining its decision, AGC expressed the “grave concerns” of its membership that the 2007 edition of A201 “significantly shifts risks to General Contractors and other parties outside of the design profession” and voices “philosophical disagreement regarding an architect’s authoritative role and mandated linear process.”

The AIA documents come about six weeks after the publication of a competing new series of documents, under the brand ConsensusDOCS™**, by a consortium of owner, contractor and trade groups, including The Construction Users Roundtable, Construction Owners Association of America, Construction Industry Round Table, Associated Builders and Contractor, Inc., Lean Construction Institute, and the National Subcontractors Alliance, among others, in addition to AGC. This consortium touts itself as a “new voice of the industry” and claims that its new family of documents are more innovative and collaborative. Among other things, for instance, the owner/contractor agreement for a lump sum project and related general conditions are joined in a single, integrated document designated the ConsensusDOCS 200.

Volumes have been written about the 1997 General Conditions and, undoubtedly, volumes more will be written about the 2007 edition. AIA has made changes to every article, some more extensively than others, and over one-hundred (100) sections of the A201-1997 document. Our purpose here is relatively modest: to highlight some of the more important changes in the new A201-2007 edition. We caution all readers who truly wish to understand the new General Conditions form, and its implications, to review it fully and carefully, and to consult with counsel of their choice.

To achieve our purpose, rather than begin with those changes that we think are most important, a value judgment that may well vary from project to project (and company to company), we have proceeded in the order of the A201- 2007 document itself and commented on those provisions that contain substantive revisions. We have set forth the new language in quotations, in a neutral context, and offered commentary separately.