Dive into our must-have resource that breaks down contracting for architects. Whether you’re a sole practitioner, a recent grad, or a principal at a large firm, you’ll uncover how to protect your business from risk, maximize cash flow, and strengthen professional relationships – all through smart contracting. This guide shares best practices we’ve developed with our valued clients, including thousands of architects who bring their visions to life across 200,000 projects per year.
Congratulations! You’ve won the pitch on a new project. Now, what? Contracting!
A strong contract defines how you’ll collaborate with owners, developers, contractors, and consultants. More than a legal requirement, well-crafted contract language reduces surprises and serves as an architect’s framework for creative design. It’s critical to align expectations at the start of a project. Contracts help each party move from programming and design through construction and completion.
The result? Projects that are more likely to be delivered on time and on budget.
Why Contracts Matter
As an architect, you are not expected to be a lawyer. Yet, on each project, you will encounter an average of 36 agreements and forms, according to ACD project data. By understanding contract fundamentals, you can navigate challenges, avoid undue risk, and successfully bring your vision to life. Involve firm leadership, project principals, and legal counsel early to avoid misalignment and rework.
The Top 4 Ways Contracts Protect You
Risk Mitigation: Contracts set clear boundaries and prevent you from absorbing others’ liabilities. Risk accountability must align with the party in control.
Responsibility Scope: A well-structured contract outlines an architect’s responsibilities for each project phase. This protects your time by detailing what you will produce and when you will produce it. It also spells out the owner’s role in providing information and signing off on approvals.
Reliable Cash Flow: Your finance team will value a fiscally responsible agreement. Receiving payments throughout the project reduces cash flow stress during lengthy construction projects and aligns with payment milestone dates in case of disputes or delays.
Intellectual Property: Your drawings and models are valuable assets. The contract grants the owner the right to use your designs for this specific project only. By limiting unauthorized use of your creative work, you protect repeat business and your creative style. Safeguards ensure you retain the right to reuse your design ideas and instruments of service for future projects.
AIA Contracts Protect Architects Through Precedent
Over half of the ENR Top 400 companies use AIA Contract Documents, making these contracts widely familiar across the AEC community. This means less time editing and fewer surprises in negotiation. By using industry-standard language your partners recognize and trust, projects start faster, run smoother, and legal expenses decrease.
For 139 years, the AEC community has trusted AIA Contract Documents for their equal protection of all parties. Court-tested language reduces ambiguity and helps parties resolve disagreements with less disruption. These documents reflect evolving legal standards, new precedents, and market changes.
The independent AIA Documents Committee has final approval on the publishing of every contract. This council consists of 35 experts in design, construction, law, and insurance with hundreds of years of combined experience. Their insights span changes in scope, schedule pressures, evolving technology, and common disputes, and reflect the current best practices in the industry. Well-structured contracts anticipate common project risks so you don’t have to. AIA contracts are built on real-world experience and evolve under the professional oversight and guidance of our committee and broader AEC Community.
Development Types
AIA Contract Documents span a wide variety of development projects, from the Dallas Cowboys stadium to luxury hotels and your neighbor’s home. Our contracts have been court-tested across all major development categories. These include evergreen development across residential, education, retail, government, and medical facilities. Based on Construction Connect data, development projects that are surging in demand include:
- Data centers and warehouses
- Public infrastructure
- Semiconductor and biomanufacturing
- Institutional projects
- Industrial and megaprojects over $1B
Critical Factors in Choosing the Right Primary Agreement
The primary agreement contract defines the relationship between the owner and your architecture firm. It’s important to choose the best Owner-Architect, or B-Series, agreement to match your project attributes. And we’re here to guide you.
A foundational agreement establishes mutually beneficial relationships. Yet, in any working relationship, conflicts or challenges will naturally arise. Setting expectations early makes it easier to solve problems later without damaging trust.
Project Delivery Methods help define which B-series document is best to start with:
Design-Bid-Build: The project’s delivery method dictates the B Series agreement you start with. From the architect’s perspective, most projects use the Design-Bid-Build model. Here, design starts before construction, which is then run by a general contracting organization. For an average to large project, the B101 is the ideal prime agreement. This contract establishes the relationship between your firm and the project developer and protects the architect from construction liability.
Design-Build: Design-Build delivery methods are on the rise. Here, your role as an architect may be as a consultant to the Design-Builder. The AIA Trust found that in Design-Build arrangements, architects are often asked to assume risks beyond their traditional role and insurance coverage. At the same time, you may lose direct access to the owner and have less control over design decisions. The B141 is the best primary agreement to protect you from unnecessary risk or scope during a Design-Build engagement.
Integrated Project Delivery: You may also find yourself on an Integrated Project, which promotes collaboration throughout. The B195 is ideal for addressing the blurred scope of responsibilities inherent in this fluid delivery method.
CMa or CMc Role Present: When the developer on your project uses a Construction Manager as an Advisor (CMa) or Constructor (CMc), their role will impact team dynamics. Either B132 (CMa) or B133 (CMc) is the best choice for delineating the scope and risk to these individuals.
Other factors that impact the best B-Series agreement to use include:
Payment Methods: Various B-Series agreements correlate with the payment structure. Choose an agreement that is set up for either Stipulated Sum, Cost of Work Plus Fee, or Cost of Work Plus Fee with a Guaranteed Maximum Price. A contract that is set up for these compensation models will make calculations much easier.
Project Scale: Shorter agreements, such as the B104 or B105, help mitigate risk while reducing complexity. These are ideal for projects with a limited scope. This focuses on legal review of what actually applies.
Residential Projects: Options for residential projects account for the unique needs of homeowners. B110 is ideal for single-family projects, while B109 is designed for multi-family units.
Special Scenarios: Contract alternatives exist for a variety of unique scenarios. Some examples are when offering pro bono services, working on federally funded projects, or participating in historical preservation.
MSAs: Sometimes developers and architects build long-standing partnerships. Instead of negotiating individual contracts for each project, you can set up a Master Service Agreement using B121. This defines the working relationship and the terms that govern it. Individual projects are initiated with a B221 or Service Order.
Anatomy of an Architecture Contract
Know how your contract is structured so you can advocate for your firm and avoid unintended obligations. It’s important to understand how a signed contract impacts your firm’s principals, employees, and consultants.
Owner-Provided Information: This section sets out the context for the entire project. It specifies the people and business entities involved, as well as what success looks like. The owner’s program provides direction for the architect to design form and function. Architects will know what to expect from others to help avoid delays, redesigns, and later conflicts caused by missing input.
Architect’s Responsibilities: Here, the contract defines the professional role you are hired to perform. This clarity allows you to confidently deliver services. You’ll also avoid absorbing responsibilities and risks that belong to owners, contractors, or consultants. The standard of care sets clear expectations for professional performance. It shields architects, emphasizing that design is judgment-driven and does not guarantee the construction’s result.
Compensation: This section supports financial health throughout the project. Clear payment schedules align fees with milestones and reduce payment disputes. The ability to append supplemental services allows the architect’s role to expand. However, extra services should never be part of the job without compensation.
Dispute Resolution or Termination: Resolution pathways help architects address issues while maintaining partnerships. A contract should also provide steps towards arbitration or litigation, if necessary. Further guidelines outline how to terminate an agreement. This provides a safety net. It’s critical to have an exit strategy if projects pause, funding changes, or priorities shift unexpectedly.
Protecting Your Profitability
A contract defines when and how much you will be compensated for your services. AIA Contract Documents account for various payment models. Payments are structured in phases. Clear due dates support predictable cash flow. Contracts include remedies for delayed payment, so compensation is not treated as leverage. Reimbursable expenses are also addressed to protect the architecture firm’s margin.
Pro Tip Use the owner’s budget for the cost of work as the basis for payment. The owner’s budget provides a predictable baseline at the start of the project. This is opposed to using the actual cost of work, which lacks clarity before the architect’s work begins. If the owner’s budget expands, compensation scales to reflect increased effort.
What to Look for When Reviewing a Contract
Often, the owner looks to the architect for help with contract selection. Starting with an AIA template, recognized as the industry standard, sets the relationship off on the right foot. If an owner presents you with a custom agreement, review it carefully to protect your architecture firm from unwarranted liability.
AIA Contract Documents prioritize fairness to all parties. The language allocates risks to the party best able to manage them, ensuring that no one party is unfairly burdened. Risk must also reflect insurance coverage, so when you do need to leverage it, your firm is financially protected.
Baker Law Design & Construction Counsel also notes, “Owners might ask their designers to warrant or guarantee certain outcomes, or to defend the owners from claims. These risky contract terms can be a mistake for everyone involved, including the owners themselves.”
The mutual waiver of consequential damages is a critical clause to include so that your liability, in the event of a dispute, does not balloon to include things such as lost profits.
It’s also vital to check the validity of a contract. Even when it’s an AIA Contract Document, you must remain alert to modifications to the original language.
The Certification confirms the validity of the original AIA language. All changes are transparent and are clearly presented in an “Additions and Deletions Report.” Now, all parties are aware of changes and can review their implications with legal counsel before signing.
Pro Tip Certify your agreements. The AIA Contract Documents Certification and trusted AIA Seal protect you from unwittingly signing modified language.
The Architect’s Scope During Design Phases
Define scope clearly at the start of the project to prevent liability creep and unpaid work. Architectural scope is presented as a sequence of phases. Each phase carries different levels of effort, risk, collaboration, and decision-making. Misaligned assumptions are one of the fastest ways for liability to expand. Clear scope language prevents surprises and supports fair compensation. Owner approvals at key decision points provide critical checkpoints.
Basic Services: This initial phase establishes how architects manage and coordinate work. This includes aligning with the owner and consultants, communicating progress, and setting schedules. Architects engage with regulatory authorities and support the approval process. This phase sets clear authority and boundaries early.
Schematic Design: During this phase, architects translate the owner’s program into an initial design direction. They explore alternative approaches before finalizing major decisions, while preliminary drawings define the project’s scale and primary systems. When coordinating with external consultants, such as structural, electrical, and mechanical engineers, the C401 is used to align on scope, responsibilities, and risks. These corresponding agreements help protect both the architect and the owner while reducing the likelihood of redesign and downstream conflict as the project advances.
Design Development: Architects will refine schematic design concepts into coordinated design materials. Drawings and specifications define size, character, and performance for all architectural, structural, and building systems. These documents provide a basis for cost evaluation.
Construction Documents: Next, the architect prepares detailed construction documents for the contractors to use in building the project. Thorough documents reduce requests for information (RFIs), change orders, and disputes during construction.
Procurement: The architect often supports the owner in selecting a contractor. You help prepare bidding or proposal materials and evaluate responses. The architect helps the owner clarify intent, manage questions, and document the process, without assuming responsibility for the contractor’s pricing or performance.
Pro Tip As sustainability requirements impact more projects, AIA Contract Documents developed the E204 Sustainable Projects Exhibit to clearly define performance-based and construction elements sustainability goals.
How the Architect’s Role Transitions During the Construction Phase
During the Construction Phase, the architect’s role shifts from design to contract administration. The architect acts as an advisor to the owner and an interpreter of the contract documents. This role ensures the project is built in accordance with the approved design. This is the phase when boundaries matter most. Your role is to administer the contract, not direct construction.
On-Site Responsibilities: To do this, the architect conducts periodic site visits to monitor progress and quality. This minimizes costly errors. After each visit, deviations, defects, or scheduling concerns are reported to the owner to ensure accountability. These visits are not for inspection or supervision.
Contract Alignment: During construction, the architect reviews submittals and shop drawings to confirm alignment with design intentions. When necessary, you will issue supplemental drawings or specifications.
Change Order Execution: Changes are a normal part of construction as project needs, material availability, and owner preferences evolve. When changes are identified, they should be documented promptly and submitted to the owner for approval via a formal Change Order. Using a G701 helps clearly define scope, cost, and schedule impacts—and is especially important given that most change requests must be submitted within 21 days to remain valid.
Certifying Applications for Payment: An architect’s certification confirms that the contractor’s work has progressed as shown, without guaranteeing construction quality or means and methods. Using the G702 Application and Certificate for Payment, together with the G703 Continuation Sheet, allows costs and completed work to be tracked consistently across the project, making the documentation required for official certification clear and efficient.
Completion: Finally, the architect supports the project’s closeout by determining substantial and final completion. You’ll assist the owner with transferring the required documentation, warranties, and closeout materials. Once complete, this formally ends the architect’s responsibilities under the agreement.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully seen your vision translated from a design to a place people can enjoy in the world.
The Ideal Contracting Suite for Architects
An advantage of AIA Contract Documents is that the suite of agreements and forms works with a primary agreement across phases and parties. Document coordination reduces conflicts and establishes consistent expectations. It is critical to use document series with the same publishing year, as they reference the same General Conditions.
While an architect won’t sign an A101 Owner-Contractor agreement, its language has a direct impact on your working relationships. When the contractor on your project signs a complementary contract, risk alignment throughout the process is universal, and all parties understand their responsibilities and obligations.
Pro Tip By leveraging a suite of industry-standard contracts, you ensure that each party’s agreement does not conflict with the others.
Key Supporting Forms and Agreements
Coordinating documents across your project reduces rework, disputes, and inconsistencies, while streamlining negotiation and revision timelines.
Here are some key supporting documents commonly leveraged by architects to support a complete project lifecycle and promote cross-functional collaboration.
Change Orders: It is impossible to predict how a project will progress. Owners add requirements, or materials go out of stock. Weather can completely alter the timeline. These obstacles should be anticipated in long-term projects. Change Orders (G701) outline variations from the original scope and supersede related content in the original contract. Because it is a signed document, the Change Order promotes transparency, aligns all parties, and reduces disputes.
Consultant Agreements: Architects often hire your own professionals throughout the project. Consultant agreements, like the C401, set the bounds of these relationships and define risk. Consultants range from structural engineers and land surveyors to interior designers.
Exhibits: These supplementary documents account for trends impacting design. Emerging technologies continue to find their way into construction projects. Addenda address digital technologies such as the use of Building Information Modeling software. Additionally, supportive addenda, like E204, support sustainability initiatives and LEED Certification processes.
Supplemental Service Agreements: If an architect is tasked with additional services during a project, a Supplemental Agreement is used with the primary agreement. This agreement sets out the specific scope, payment plan, and timeframe for that area of work. Common services include programming, site evaluation, facilities support, urban planning, and FF&E procurement.
Preserving Relationships When Obstacles Arise
Every project will have points of friction. What matters is having a professional path to resolution that protects the work, the relationship, and your reputation.
Mediation: The goal is to resolve problems before they escalate into costly disputes. Mediation is faster, more confidential, and less damaging to working relationships than litigation. It gives both parties a structured forum to clarify expectations and reach a settlement. Importantly, it does not prevent architects from protecting lien rights.
Arbitration: If mediation is not successful, the contract provides a path to arbitration. Arbitration is a binding process that offers an alternative to court litigation. Claims must still be raised within the legal time limits, which keeps disputes tied to recent decisions. Once an arbitration award is issued, it is final and enforceable in court.
Termination: Termination and suspension provisions provide ways to pause or end the relationship. Architects have the right to suspend services if you are not paid without liability. By defining notice periods, payment obligations, and rights to use design work after termination, contracts ensure that architects are not left uncompensated or exposed to risk.
Well-structured dispute resolutions recognize that most projects do not end with a single job. Resolving issues professionally helps protect reputations and preserve future opportunities.
Contracting Technologies Modernize Workflows
Contracting extends beyond the documents themselves. Modern contract management solutions orchestrate the editing and approval workflow. AIA Contract Documents’ Catina platform expedites drafting, tracks changes, and collects signatures. By filling in variable fields, Catina helps the user standardize and expedite data entry. Further, its redlining process allows contract reviewers to quickly accept or reject changes to the original language. The final approved language, a detailed report of modifications, and all approved signatures are archived to keep your firm organized.
Watch our 3-minute demo below to learn more about our Catina platform including how to manage documents, track edits, and support consistent workflows from project start through completion.
Putting Contracting into Practice at Your Architecture Firm
You now have a practical framework for understanding how contracts shape risk, scope, and compensation. Evaluate your architecture firm’s contracting practices as a next step. Contract education across your organization empowers architects to protect your business interests. The next time a contract crosses your desk, or you advocate for a contract to start a project, you’ll be confident in how to proceed. You’re ready to reduce time spent reinventing agreements and spend more time delivering inspiring work.
Make contracting easier by exploring the subscription options from the industry-trusted provider, AIA Contract Documents.