By a show of hands, how many of you have designed or built attached housing product in the last 10 years, or plan to do so? How many of you really raised your hand? (Just checking). Due in part to the fact that homeowner associations typically have a board of directors to represent the interests of its unit owners, and the fact that associations and owners “own” different parts of the attached product, claims relating to defects and deficiencies in attached housing product have long been a testing ground for streamlined litigation procedures. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the second in a series of articles that focus on certain pitfalls associated with the wholesale use of standardized AIA contracts. For those of you having trouble sleeping or those of you who design or build residential housing in California, the time has come to examine your AIA contracts. Read the rest of this entry »

Many architects and builders enter into standard AIA contracts for architectural services relating to the design and construction of commercial and residential housing projects. These contracts contain generic terms bearing on all aspects of the architect/builder relationship from the scope of services to be performed to dispute resolution procedures. The form contracts are a good beginning, but they are nothing more than a beginning.
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