The "Bulletin" is a vehicle for issuing clarifications or changes to the construction documents. As it is not defined in the the various AIA General Conditions it is up to the architect using the form to define its use. Preferably in the General Requirements, and minimally within the form itself. As the term "Bulletin" is "agnostic" as to which contractual change vehicle it is, it is open to being used various ways as has been mentioned in other posts, most of which have other industry standard names, such as Addenda, or ASI.
I am familiar with what Jeremy Franklin termed "Option B", where it is used as the form for issuing PRs, ASIs, and CCDs. This allows for a single list of issuances of clarifications and changes. I don't know of another term for such a form, which suggests this as the preferred use.
In this use the Bulletin form is more than a "transmittal" as it contains the issuing language for use as an ASI, or as a Proposal Request, or as a CCD. It has text addressing scope, time and cost as appropriate for all three modes of issuance. It also has space for the issuing Architect's signature as well as for the Owner and Contractor to indicate their acceptance or concurrence. It has the same information and full contractual force as the individual forms AIA provides, but all in one form.
I've done it both ways, separate forms for Proposal Request, ASI, and CCD, and using the Bulletin form to issue scope clarifications and changes for all three modes by checking the box for whether it is being issued as a PR, ASI, or CCD, and then filling in the appropriate cost and time change information.
There are many benefits to having a single form to issue clarifications and changes. You don't have three logs to track the issuance numbers, or to search to find the change. If an ASI evolves into a CCD during production it doesn't change, for example, from ASI 12 to CCD 4, it stays as Bulletin 16. If you issue a proposal request as Bulletin 17, you can then issue it as a CCD by issuing revised Bulletin 17 with the accepted price and time. It allows you to match the Revision delta number to the Bulletin number if you wish or an agency requires.
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Stephen Jackson AIA
RBB Architects Inc.
Lafayette CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-21-2022 08:55 PM
From: Janene Christopher
Subject: What is a Bulletin?
Thanks for the response Jeremy;
With respect to Option b) seems to be a document to list all the issued contract forms (ASIs, CCDs, etc) so why not use a transmittal?
Seems like this "Bulletin" is more akin to your cop-out remark; in that "the architect" makes a list of revisions RFIs, ASI, Owner changes and any other revisions to the documents and hands it over the "Bulletin" to the Owner and/or GC to deal with.
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Janene Christopher AIA
Steinberg Hart
San Diego CA
Original Message:
Sent: 07-21-2022 05:42 PM
From: Jeremy Franklin
Subject: What is a Bulletin?
It isn't a "real" form. But a lot of firms use the term when they want to either (a) be agnostic about whether they're showing a change that affects cost and schedule (which I consider a cop-out) or (b) use one form that has checkboxes or options that refer to documents such as ASI, CCD, PR, etc. The latter use makes it simpler to have only 1 type of form for construction phase issuances that cover all bases.
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Jeremy Franklin AIA
Original Message:
Sent: 07-20-2022 10:15 AM
From: Janene Christopher
Subject: What is a Bulletin?
I have been seeing this term used in CCA, but yet I cannot find a standard definition. What is a Bulletin? and if it is a "real" form why isn't it covered in the AIA's "G Section of the Handbook?
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Janene Christopher AIA
RJC Architects
San Diego CA
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