What A101-2017 is
AIA A101-2017 is the owner-contractor agreement where the basis of payment is a stipulated sum, also called a lump sum. The contract fixes one sum for the Work.
- The trap: Cost of the Work plus a Fee with a guaranteed maximum price is A102-2017, not A101.
- Field-measured unit prices are not the A101 basis.
- An open-ended cost plus a fee with no price limit is not the A101 basis either.
The general conditions it adopts
The A101-2017 preview states that AIA A201-2017, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction, is adopted in the agreement by reference.
- A201-2007 is the prior edition. The 2017 agreement pairs with the 2017 general conditions, so a 2007 answer is a trap.
- A102-2017 is a separate owner-contractor agreement (cost plus fee with GMP), not general conditions.
- Exhibit A is the Insurance and Bonds exhibit, not the general conditions.
Addenda versus Modifications
A101-2017 Article 1 lists both as Contract Documents, and the difference is timing:
- Addenda are issued before the Agreement is executed. They are changes made during bidding.
- Modifications are issued after execution.
The common error is to reverse the two. Another is to say both come only after execution, which ignores that Addenda are pre-execution bidding changes. Addenda are expressly listed as Contract Documents, so any statement excluding them is wrong.
Liquidated damages are a blank
A101-2017 §4.5 reads "Insert terms and conditions for liquidated damages, if any". The printed form fixes no liquidated-damages amount. §3.3.3 ties late Substantial Completion to whatever the parties insert in §4.5.
The trap is a fixed figure. A rate of 1% per week, $500 per day, or a rate tied to retainage does not appear anywhere in the standard form. If an estimator opens a blank A101 looking for the standard rate, there is none: the rate exists only if the parties write one in.