ConstructionAdvisorToday

Designer Abuse of the Submittal Process

Shop drawings and other submittals are intended to establish that the contractor’s performance will conform to the design elements of the contract. Those elements are presumed to be objective. And the designer should be objective as well in evaluating conformance to the contract. The submittal of samples or shop drawings should not be viewed as an opportunity to redesign the project or use the trial-and-error method to develop nuances in the design. Yet this is exactly what happened on one recent project.

AIA to Release Guide for Sustainable Projects Next Month

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) next month intends to release AIA Document D503-2011, Guide for Sustainable Projects, including Agreement Amendments and Supplementary Conditions.

The guide is free and was developed to assist users of AIA contract documents in understanding contractual considerations unique to sustainable design and construction projects. The guide also provides model language that can be used to amend or supplement key AIA contract documents in the A201 family for use in these types of projects. Developed by AIA’s Contract Documents Committee with input from industry stakeholders, the guide is expected to provide AIA contract document users with a valuable tool for creating versions of AIA standard contract documents for sustainable projects.

ComputerEase Cloud Construction Management Software Solution Released

A Cincinnati-based company earlier this week released ComputerEase Cloud, a web-based construction management software solution. The offering permits access to ComputerEase from any computer with an Internet connection and from mobile devices such as tablet PCs and the Apple iPad. In cloud computing, applications are hosted at a secure data center and accessed by an end user via a web browser.

Recovery of Home Office Overhead Keeps Getting Tougher

Bruce Jervis, Editor
Construction Claims Advisor

Contractor recovery of unabsorbed home office overhead has long been controversial. Project owners consider these damages phantom costs designed to inflate claims. Contractors counter that they reasonably anticipate a fixed-price contract to absorb a certain percentage of home office expenses over a scheduled period of contract performance. When work on the contract is suspended, those expenses must be absorbed by other contracts.

Group Lauds Movement on Appliance-Standards Bill; Other Green Building Legislation Introduced

The Alliance to Save Energy (ASE) earlier this month commended the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for approving a bill that would codify energy-efficiency standards for appliances and other products as negotiated by manufacturers and efficiency advocates. It is one of several green-building bills undergoing congressional consideration.

The Implementation of National Consensus Appliance Agreements bill (INCAA) would supplant potentially inconsistent state requirements with a national standard that will provide regulatory certainty for affected manufacturers, enabling job-creating investments to proceed. Introduced earlier this year by Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), S.398, INCAA has won the co-sponsorship of 26 other senators.

Construction Management Group Updates Publication on State CM Laws

The Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) has published a new, updated edition of State by State Review of Licensing Requirements Affecting Construction Managers, a which the group considers a key reference for any organization or individual practicing CM in multiple states.

The State by State Review summarizes the state laws governing the practice of CM with references to relevant statutes. The publication also provides mailing addresses, contact names, and telephone/email information for the government agencies that regulate licensing of architects, engineers, and contractors.

How Common Is Bid Rigging?

Bid rigging, more formally known as bid collusion, is a serious matter. In fact it can be a crime. Any allegation of bid collusion should be backed up by tangible evidence. It is not an allegation which should be based on speculation or asserted for tactical advantage.

In a recent case out of Indiana, a disappointed bidder alleged that the public project owner’s architectural firm had structured a bid process to allow the architect to manipulate the system and disqualify any bidder that underbid a favored bidder. The allegation of favoritism arose from the fact a principal in the architectural firm was a close personal friend of a principal in the construction company which allegedly received the preferential treatment.

Maryland Approves International Green Construction Code; More States Could Follow Suit

Maryland has approved the International Green Construction Code (IGCC). Enactment of Maryland H.B. 972 earlier this month enables the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt the IGCC and could facilitate IGCC adoption by local governments.

“I definitely do” believe that other states will adopt the IGCC in some form, Stuart Kaplow, chairperson of U.S. Green Building Council Maryland, told Green Building Insider. He reported that code officials from at least five other states have contacted him about Maryland’s legislation. He declined to reveal the identities of those states.

InterSpec, Digicon Enter into BIM Partnership

InterSpec Inc. and Digicon Information Inc. have entered into a partnership to bring building information modeling (BIM) integrated specifications solutions to Canada. The companies will deliver e-SPECS Software and Services Solutions integrated with the Canadian Master Specification (CMS) and National Master Specification (NMS) construction specification documents for InterSpec's customers in Canada. E-SPECS is a BIM Integrated Specification Solution providing a platform for customers to manage their design preferences, lessons learned, code requirements, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design criteria, and more.

The Challenges of Electronic Procurement

The advent, and now prevalence, of electronic commerce has created a number of legal issues regarding contract formation, binding documentation and terms of agreement. Virtually every enterprise has been affected. Public procurement is no exception. Government at the federal, state and local level has moved to electronic procurement. It raises some interesting questions.

A recent decision in the Court of Federal Claims is an example. When a solicitation called for electronic submission of proposals, at what point in time was the proposal “received?” Was it the arrival at the agency’s e-mail server or the arrival in the procurement officer’s e-mail inbox? If the proposal arrived with the server on time, but was not transmitted to the designated procurement officer until after the deadline, was the proposal timely? After all, the designated recipient had no access to the proposal, and did not even know of its existence, until it hit the e-mail inbox.

What issues have you seen arising out of electronic procurement? What is your opinion of the efficacy and fairness of the systems you have dealt with? I invite your comments.

Featured in Next Week’s Construction Claims Advisor:

• Supplier Bound by Purchase Order Specifications
• Settlement Agreement Introduced in Response to "Pay-When-Paid" Defense
• Arbitration Rendered Voluntary by Word "May"