We’re in the final countdown of the Top 10 Changes to the AIA A201 contracts.  [For the previous post, on Liquidated Damages, go here].

Today, dates of commencement & completion.  Technically, I’m cheating today, because these changes are in the related contracts, not the A201 itself, although A201 Section 8 discusses commencement & completion dates in general.  However, in the related contract documents (A101 Section 3; A102 Section 4; A103 Section 4), changes were made to encourage specificity.

There is now a check box that allows the parties to select as the Date of Commencement as one of the following:

(1) the date of the Agreement

(2) the issuance of a Notice to Proceed (NTP) by the Owner; or

(3) a different date as agreed to by the Parties.

If no box is checked, the default is the date of the Agreement.  The check box format is meant to clarify any confusion between the parties before the contract is inked.

For Substantial Completion, there is also a new check box to indicate whether such is obtained no later than a specified calendar date or within a certain number of days from commencement.  There is also a new section that addresses Substantial Completion of certain phases of the Work prior to full Completion.

Finally, a new section has been added to cross-reference the new liquidated damages fill point.

Tomorrow, change # 3 on the countdown, Termination for Convenience.

Photo (c) Steven Depolo via Creative Commons license.