From PFCS's Training Construction Document Literacy:
"General Conditions to the Contract describe the general guidelines for administration of the Prime Contract. The document includes information like how to terminate a contract under various circumstances, obligations of the parties to a construction contract, and important definitions. It is intended to guide the Owner and Contractor through all agreed upon aspects of general contract administration. By reading an industry standard document like AIA 201 you can learn a tremendous amount about how construction projects are supposed to work."
If you deal with construction regularly, I highly recommend that you print out one or more of the documents below (or upload to your iPad), put it on the nightstand, and let it bore you to sleep a few nights in a row. It will solve insomnia and enlighten you significantly. Then, any time there is a problem with a construction project you are working on, just remember the old favorite acronym: RTFC. Read the f-ing contract! Since you will have read these General Conditions, you will know generally what should be in the contract and how the clauses work together. This will allow you to make smart decisions in applying specific contract language to specific situations.
2017 AIA Contract Documents: Every 10 years, the core set of AIA Contract Documents are reviewed and updated based on industry trends and important court decisions. The April release includes 11 revised AIA forms and contracts. An additional 18 forms and agreements will be released in the fall of 2017. Once the 2017 documents are released, the 2007 editions of the documents can continue to be used for up to 18 months. This page contains a summary of major changes to the Owner/Architect and Owner/Contractor agreements.
