EA213: AIA Contract Documents for Small Firms withKen Cobleigh of AIA [Podcast]

AIA Contract Documents for Small Firms The man behind AIA Contract Documents, the comprehensive legal document system from AIA. For years, small firm architects have been a bit disgruntled about the bulky, intimidating documents. In the past few years, AIA has been working hard to serve the small firm community and AIA Contract Documents have evolved to provide documents specifically for small firm architects. This week at EntreArchitect Podcast, AIA Contract Documents for Small Firms with Ken Cobleigh of the American Institute of Architects. Background Ken serves as Managing Director and Counsel, AIA Contract Documents. He works with a team of lawyers, specialists and support staff, and the AIA Documents Committee, in developing and publishing AIA Contract Documents, and in providing support services to contract document users. Ken joined the American Institute of Architects in October 2006. Ken is a graduate of the University of Maryland where he earned both his B.A. and J.D. with honors. After earning his law degree, and prior to joining the AIA, Ken practiced for eighteen years as a construction attorney in private practice Maryland law firms. During that time he represented owners, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals in a number of dispute resolution forums, including State and Federal Courts and administrative agencies, mediation and arbitration. Origin Story After graduating college, Ken was a police officer for several years before he decided to move on to something different. He graduated from law school and went to work at a general practice firm. One day, he ended up an associate to a partner on construction cases where he learned a lot of information at an incredibly fast pace. Once he developed his expertise in construction, he moved to another firm where he had a majority of architect and engineer malpractice cases. Now, every day, he gets to work with bright architects, lawyers, and others in the industry to develop good tools and put the law to work in a good way. Why should we be using AIA contract documents? The contract is an essential part of the relationship. At the end of the day, you’re in a business relationship built on a set of understandings and promises. Architects make promises about services rendered, and the owners make promises about payment. What each person understands can be different, so the contract is where everyone lays out rules for issues that could arise. We never like to think that a project could end poorly, but sometimes there are disputes. All of these potential issues can be addressed up front with the contract. What type of documents does AIA provide for small firms? For those practicing in residential and commercial, there’s a wide range of documents available. Many vary in size for different firms. The smaller the contract, the less things have been fleshed out for clarity and the more things will be open to interpretation by the parties. AIA cautions everyone that, depending on risk tolerance, they suggest the contract that will do the best job of making things clear and minimizing risk. Small, low-cost projects may allow use of a shorter form. Longer forms may have more potentials for alternate dispute resolution or licensure for the services. There’s a specific agreement (B107 2010) for an architect and a developer builder where there’s some replicated...

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