Small Project Design

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
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The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
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Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
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As usual, my comments about the Contract Documents are related to the lack of applicability to small projects and/or practitioners. The documents are long and a bit scary to many of the clients we come across. Yes I've heard the arguments in favor of them, but that doesn't change things. Architects will go on using simple 2 to 3 page letters of agreement and will not purchase the AIA documents if the AIA doesn't respond.

The specific issue that I noticed lately is the lack of a good Architect-Design Builder contract for small DB projects. DB is a widely defined practice and if we want to have a part in it, we need to be able to have a brief but good document that we can use for our services. I don't see too many Contractors signing the B143 with all of its many attachments for a small 6,000 sf warehouse project. By the time they're done reading it, we're done with our work.

Again, how the AIA responds to small practitioners, small firms, etc. right now will chart the course of its membership in the next few years. They can't keep ignoring us or give us less attention than the big boys with the big bucks without ramifications.

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Lee Calisti AIA
Principal
lee CALISTI architecture+design
Greensburg PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2012 09:27
From: Linna Frederick
Subject: Contract Documents

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
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The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
-------------------------------------------
Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
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I agree with Lee Calisti that there is a need for an architect led design build contract.  I would go one step beyond and say there should be one (again for smaller projects) which envisions the architect as holding the general contractor license, and hiring the subcontractors.  That means also that there should be a reasonable form for Architect DB Contractor agreements for use with subs, including other design professionals.

In the traditional services arena, I would like to see better support for bidding on small projects.

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Donald Wardlaw AIA
More Than Construction, Inc.
Oakland CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-16-2012 10:36
From: Lee Calisti
Subject: Contract Documents


As usual, my comments about the Contract Documents are related to the lack of applicability to small projects and/or practitioners. The documents are long and a bit scary to many of the clients we come across. Yes I've heard the arguments in favor of them, but that doesn't change things. Architects will go on using simple 2 to 3 page letters of agreement and will not purchase the AIA documents if the AIA doesn't respond.

The specific issue that I noticed lately is the lack of a good Architect-Design Builder contract for small DB projects. DB is a widely defined practice and if we want to have a part in it, we need to be able to have a brief but good document that we can use for our services. I don't see too many Contractors signing the B143 with all of its many attachments for a small 6,000 sf warehouse project. By the time they're done reading it, we're done with our work.

Again, how the AIA responds to small practitioners, small firms, etc. right now will chart the course of its membership in the next few years. They can't keep ignoring us or give us less attention than the big boys with the big bucks without ramifications.

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Lee Calisti AIA
Principal
lee CALISTI architecture+design
Greensburg PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2012 09:27
From: Linna Frederick
Subject: Contract Documents

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
-------------------------------------------

The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
-------------------------------------------
Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
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I am really happy that we now have the C-401 document now available for single use printing.  Every project needs 2 or more consultant agreements for the single Owner's agreement.  Small projects need all the same forms, but if the project is done by a small practice, purchasing in a block does not make financial sense.  I pay a lot of money to be an AIA member and this is one of my biggest benefits.  Architects need to use contracts and AIA should make these available to the small practice by putting them all on the single use system.  
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Gail Pelsue AIA
Principal
Pelsue Architecture, LLC
Denver CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2012 09:27
From: Linna Frederick
Subject: Contract Documents

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
-------------------------------------------

The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
-------------------------------------------
Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
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Thanks for asking, Jane.  I was recently surprised to find there is no Invitation/Solicitation to Bid or Bid Form.  These items really should be coordinated with the other documents.  I had to scrounge up stuff from the internet.

And as usual, we need contracts and forms better tailored to small projects.
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James Cline AIA
Principal, 2011 SPP AG Chair
Cline Architects
San Francisco CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2012 09:27
From: Linna Frederick
Subject: Contract Documents

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
-------------------------------------------

The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
-------------------------------------------
Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
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I received this reply from the AIA:

MasterSpec, the subscription specification library owned by the AIA and published by ARCOM, includes a Small Project Library intended for smaller, negotiated type projects. The Small Project Library includes a small project version of MasterSpecs Division 00 Bidding and Contracting Documents, including bid solicitation, Instructions to Bidders, and bid forms, all coordinated with the AIA Contract Documents. www.masterspec.com 

However, this is not helpful, as I (and many small project practitioners) am/are not going to pay for yet another subscription product.  Also, my need was for a competitive bid, not negotiated.

BTW, How many Form G810s (Transmittal Letter) have you seen used in your lifetimes?

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James Cline AIA
2011 SPP AG Chair
Cline Architects
San Francisco CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2012 04:43
From: James Cline
Subject: Contract Documents


Thanks for asking, Jane.  I was recently surprised to find there is no Invitation/Solicitation to Bid or Bid Form.  These items really should be coordinated with the other documents.  I had to scrounge up stuff from the internet.

And as usual, we need contracts and forms better tailored to small projects.
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James Cline AIA
Principal, 2011 SPP AG Chair
Cline Architects
San Francisco CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2012 09:27
From: Linna Frederick
Subject: Contract Documents

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
-------------------------------------------

The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
-------------------------------------------
Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
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While it may not be helpful to Mr. Cline, I think it helpful to share this type of practice information with other participants and readers of this Forum. 

Many architects do not have the time and expertise to maintain an in-house specification master that meets professional standards of practice; utilizing a nationally-distributed resource such as SpecText, MasterSpec, or SpecLink is recommended for architects by most liability insurance risk managers, some of whom provide discount points toward insurance premiums if a national master system is used. 

Even for competitively bid projects, a resource such as Small Project specifications provides much more complete documentation of project quality and administrative requirements than will relying upon notes on drawings, for a few hundred dollars a year.

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Philip Kabza AIA
Partner and Dir Technical Services
SpecGuy
Charlotte NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-20-2012 10:53
From: James Cline
Subject: Contract Documents


I received this reply from the AIA:

MasterSpec, the subscription specification library owned by the AIA and published by ARCOM, includes a Small Project Library intended for smaller, negotiated type projects. The Small Project Library includes a small project version of MasterSpecs Division 00 Bidding and Contracting Documents, including bid solicitation, Instructions to Bidders, and bid forms, all coordinated with the AIA Contract Documents. www.masterspec.com 

However, this is not helpful, as I (and many small project practitioners) am/are not going to pay for yet another subscription product.  Also, my need was for a competitive bid, not negotiated.

BTW, How many Form G810s (Transmittal Letter) have you seen used in your lifetimes?

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James Cline AIA
2011 SPP AG Chair
Cline Architects
San Francisco CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2012 04:43
From: James Cline
Subject: Contract Documents


Thanks for asking, Jane.  I was recently surprised to find there is no Invitation/Solicitation to Bid or Bid Form.  These items really should be coordinated with the other documents.  I had to scrounge up stuff from the internet.

And as usual, we need contracts and forms better tailored to small projects.
-------------------------------------------
James Cline AIA
Principal, 2011 SPP AG Chair
Cline Architects
San Francisco CA
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 02-15-2012 09:27
From: Linna Frederick
Subject: Contract Documents

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Small Firm Round Table .
-------------------------------------------

The Small Firm Round Table will be meeting with the Contract Document Staff in March. What is working for you in our contract documents and what would you like to see changed or added?
-------------------------------------------
Linna Frederick FAIA
Principal
Frederick & Frederick Architects
Beaufort SC
-------------------------------------------