From the Ground Up: AIA’s New Contract Documents Give Architects a Firm Foundation for Success

As any architect knows, a sound substructure literally and figuratively is the foundation of any building. And the key to a solid foundation, of course, is a comprehensive survey and geotechnical evaluation. To that end, the American Institute of Architects has recently released a series of new contract documents that are expressly intended to define the scope of Land Survey and Geotechnical Engineering services for architects to navigate this all-important process.

First, AIA Document C103™–2015, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Consultant without a Predefined Scope of Consultant’s Services outlines the basic business terms that describe the general responsibilities of the parties as well as sets expectations for dispute resolution, termination, and insurance. Although this form specifies that the consultant owns the copyright to its instruments of service (and provides the owner with a license to use them for a particular project), the actual scope of a consultant’s services must be inserted in Article 2 or attached as an exhibit, as agreed upon in one of two supporting documents.

Separating the scope of services from the owner-consultant agreement, C103–2015, means that users also need to append either C201™–2015, Standard Form of Consultant’s Services: Land Survey (formerly G601™–1994, Request for Proposal – Land Survey) or the C202™–2015, Standard Form of Consultant’s Services: Geotechnical Engineering (formerly G602™–1993, Request for Proposal – Geotechnical Services). It is these exhibits that actually establish the duties and responsibilities of the consultant — the surveyor or engineer — for the property owner, apropos the specific needs of the architect.

The former, C201–2015, allows the user to choose between three options. A boundary survey shows the property’s boundary lines, easements, structures, fences, walls, setback, and zoning classification. A topographic survey — one of the more time-consuming and costly options — typically complements a boundary survey, shows the property’s contours, elevations, utilities, and significant vegetation. Lastly, the ALTA/ACSM survey is another rigorous option in which the surveyor must meet ALTA/ACSM Standards in addition to the C201–2015 boundary survey requirements.

Additionally, the consultant may be responsible for research items included in the survey with provisions regarding the site utilities, such as information sources and operating authorities of the utilities.

Gary Kent of the Schneider Corporation — an Indianapolis-based surveying, engineering, and GIS firm — was instrumental in the development of the C201–2015, providing the technical insight to make this a comprehensive and relevant scope of land-surveying services.

AIA Contract Document C202–2015 spells out four phases of the geotechnical engineer’s services. First, this consultant must lay out a plan of exploration and testing and accordingly execute it. Next, he or she must prepare a detailed list of items in the geotechnical report including foundation evaluation and recommendations. Finally, during the subsequent design and construction phases (the third and fourth phases), the engineer must remain available for consultation. Conversely, the owner is responsible for providing project-specific information to the geotechnical engineer.

Sanjeev Malhotra, PE, GE, Geotechnical Practice Leader at Arup Group, offered important insight into the role of a geotechnical engineer in the land-development process and contributed to the preparation of the C202–2015, which meets industry expectations for geotechnical engineering services.

Thus, the new forms streamline the documentation for land-survey and geotechnical services and consolidate the terms and conditions in AIA Document C103–2015, which is used in conjunction with the C201–2015 or C202–2015 Standard Forms of Consultant’s Services to delineate the responsibilities of both owner and consultant.

As the Deep Foundation Institute’s Mary Ellen Large, PE D.GE, put it, “The C202–2015, Standard Form of Consultant’s Services: Geotechnical Engineering is a thorough scope of services and meets the needs of our industry. We were pleased to contribute to the development of this document.” Likewise, architects will be pleased to use this new suite of documents.

Learn more about the new AIA documents and download free samples at www.aia.org/newdocs.