Contract Administration: Understanding Contract Documents

 

Contract Documents define what the contractor must do to provide the owner with the facility for which they are paying. The Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC) is a trade organization dedicated to providing standard contract documents that reflect best and current practices that are fair to all parties involved. EJCDC's General Conditions define contract documents as follows:

"Those items so designated in the Agreement [as Contract Documents]. Only hard copies of the items listed in the Agreement are Contract Documents. Approved Shop Drawings, other Contractor's Submittals, and the report and drawings of subsurface and physical conditions are not Contract Documents."

As with so many things that involve legal issues, we have to go to another document, in this case the Agreement, to complete the picture. Here is what the EJCDC’s model Agreement lists as contract documents:

• The Agreement
• Performance bonds, Payment bonds, and Other bonds
• General Conditions and Supplementary Conditions
• Specifications as listed in the Table of Contents of the Project Manual
• Drawings consisting of ____ sheets, each bearing the following general title: ____________
• Addenda [as issued during the Bid phase]
• Exhibits to the Agreement [possibly including] Contractor’s Bid [and] Documentation submitted by Contractor prior to the Notice of Award
• Notice to Proceed
• Work Change Directive(s)
• Change Order(s)

Although this is a substantial amount of documentation, it is essential for defining a construction project and the tri-party relationship between the contractor, owner, and engineer (or other design professional). The contract documents provide a critical piece of the construction puzzle. When understood and followed by all parties, they protect everyone’s interests and make for a better project. Building upon the list above are the following:

• Drawings show what is to be built and where and how everything fits together below or above ground.
• Specifications indicate the quality that is expected in materials and equipment.
• General Conditions and Supplementary Conditions define relationships on the job: how to get started, how to get along, how to get paid, and how to finish the work.

This is the first article in a series over the next month that will explore contract documents, particularly those items in the General and Supplementary Conditions that can make or break relationships on the project and could be the difference between the contractor making the desired profit or incurring a loss.