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Form to formation: the search for front-end efficiencies can derail construction project agreements.

Article Excerpt
In all but the smallest construction projects, written project agreements are a necessity and, depending on the complexity of the project and number of parties involved, can evolve from a few pages to many. When anticipating construction projects, parties often spend more time visualizing the project itself, overlooking the time or money necessary to fully develop a new project agreement. The result is the frequent use of standard form agreements that are modified, many times by the parties themselves, to fit the circumstances of the new project's specifications. While this may create efficiencies, project owners may find themselves more disadvantaged by the use of standard forms than contractors and designers.

Where architects have the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and contractors have the American General Contractors Association (AGC), owners and developers lack the national organizations that help draft project agreements with their interests in mind. This is not to say that either the AIA or the AGC actually tries to take advantage of owners in their form agreements, but no one can say that architects or contractors are placed in secondary positions by their own organizations. Private owners often end up with agreements provided...