Illinois Law, relating to school district construction contracts,
continues to become ever more complex. However, most Districts
continue to use the American Institute of Architects (AIA) form
documents when entering into these contracts. AIA contracts were
not drafted with school districts in mind. At a minimum,
therefore, they should be revised to be consistent with Illinois
Law. In addition, they can and should be revised to incorporate
additional useful protections for school districts.
I. The Parties to the Construction Project - Considerations
A. The school district is the only
party to the project that is not a construction professional.
B. Most Standard AIA forms contain provisions that could be
unconstitutional, in violation of state and federal law, and/or unwise
for school districts. The following provisions require special
attention:
1. Indemnity provisions
2. Lieas
3. Prevailing wage rates
4. Tests and inspections
5. Interest on past due payments
6. Insurance and bonds
C. If you take a standard contract from your architect or contractor
and sign it, it is usually too late to do anything to protect yourself.
D. Let your attorney design the contracts for the people who will
design the building.
E. You cannot automatically use prior modified contracts on a new
project. Each project and each construction team is different and
may need particular changes.
F. All construction contact documents must be conformed.
II. Consider Incorporating the Following “Pro-School” Provisions and
Changes
1. Arbitration deletion
2. Architect insurance
3. Architect responsibility to provide defect-free documents
4. Clean up of job site
5. Construction management fee and general conditions explanation
6. Contractor insurance
7. Criminal history checks of workers
8. Document retention time period
9. Guaranteed Maximum Price
10. Liquidated damages
11. Set frequency of meetings
12. No owner warranty of plans and specs
13. Set presentations to board
14. Third party rights prohibited
15. Establish venue for lawsuits
16. Warranty start date
17. Warranties of the work
18. Worker conduct regarding tobacco, drugs, alcohol, weapons,
harassment
19. Worker identification
20. Worker parking on site
21. Worker safety program