Another Dilemma

Archive of Older Topics Archive - Specifications Discussions #5
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Typically everyone of my spec sections starts with some form of the following wording under header, Related Documents: “Drawings and general provisions of the Contract, including General and Supplementary Conditions and Division 1 Specification Sections, apply to this Section.”

On a project being constructed in Trinidad, the final construction agreement no longer references AIA Documents (I am not privy to the actual document). Therefore the GC has asked that this wording be deleted from each spec section.

My concern is that the specifications were developed based on language in the General Conditions. The architect has advised that neither the GC nor the Architect will be referencing any AIA document. This job has been going on since 2006 when AIA General Conditions were accepted, now they are not.

I will be formulating a disclaimer statement to add to the Additional Services Agreement and to each actual spec sections to cover what I expect will be future confusion on administering the Contract. Am I overly concerned? Anyone want to offer a recommendation for a disclaimer statement to include in each spec section?

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BTW, this contractor is based in France and this is the first time I have worked with them. Yet this contractor tried to get the architect to delete all reference to the Standards we reference in the specifications - a Dilemma I’ve faced before.

Fortunately on this job the Architect prevailed.

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Without the general conditions and a comprehensive Division 01, it is nigh impossible to write specifications. Unless, of course, you don’t mine hauling them around in a moving van, because you had to repeat all of that unnecessary front end stuff in every section.

I do not use that time-honored reference in my specifications. CSI’s old MOP and the PRM have this to say, and it makes sense:

Although the Division 01 role in governing the work has been accepted in practice for many years, this authority is not explicitly stated in either the AIA or EJCDC general conditions. Until that change is made, the authority should be established by a provision in the supplementary conditions as follows:

“Sections of Division 01-General Requirements govern the work of all sections of the specifications.”

A similar statement should be included in the supplementary conditions of [sic] Division 01 for projects using federal, state, city, or county documents that do not already grant such authority.

Although the A201 makes it redundantly clear that the contractor is responsible for means and methods, I add: The Contractor shall ensure that all Subcontractors, Sub-subcontractors, and suppliers are aware of and comply with the provisions of Division 01.

Part of the CSI credo is “say it once in the right place.” Having established the role of Division 01, there is no need to restate it in every specification section. The A201 agrees with that position, stating “The Contract Documents are complementary, and what is required by one shall be as binding as if required by all.”

That’s fine for work using the AIA or EJCDC documents, but if you’re required to use general conditions or Division 01 documents furnished by a client, it’s important to see what those documents have to say. For some projects, when I was not allowed to modify the conditions of the contract, I have stated the coordination requirements in Division 01.

I think you’re right to be concerned, Jerome. If your specifications are based on relationships and responsibilities established in AIA or EJCDC documents, you may be forced to specify those same things somewhere else.