hen building or renovating a home, you need someone who can both see the big picture and understand your project in great detail, someone who will look after your interests in what is likely to be unfamiliar territory. No handshake or letter of agreement is firm enough to cover all the roles, responsibilities

Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto

and obligations that must be carried out in your building project. Your AIA architect can efficiently prepare construction documents, detailed drawings and specifications that the contractor will use to establish construction costs and build the project. When your architect uses AIA documents, you benefit from what are considered to be "the bible" of the construction industry. These standard forms of agreement indicate the current consensus among construction industry leaders representing owners, contractors, engineers and architects. Many details are covered in clear language that is widely known and accepted. In addition to the highly-regarded AIA owner-architect and owner-contractor agreements, your architect can make available documents for small projects, construction management, project administration and a range of abbreviated-form agreements.

Select a reputable contractor. Your architect often is familiar with the abilities and reputations of the contractors in your area. In many cases, the architect and contractors share long-standing working relationships which can help promote reliability and quality work. Or, if you wish to choose among several qualified contractors, your architect can prepare the necessary bidding documents. Your architect can help you determine which bid may give you the best value in terms of the contractor's reputation, expertise, quality of work and reliability. Your architect can also help you evaluate a contractor by using a standard Contractor's Qualification Statement (AIA document A305), available through the architect or local AIA chapter, to verify the contractor's background, history, references and financial stability. When completed by the contractor, this form provides a sworn, notarized statement with appropriate attachments to assess important aspects of the contractor's qualifications. Alternatively, some architects may offer their services as a general contractor to build your house as well as design it, which can give you a single point of responsibility for simplifying the entire process. Let your AIA architect explain the pros and cons of your options.

Interpret contract requirements. Due to their complexity and technical nature, construction projects are typically described in language and symbols that are unfamiliar to the average homeowner.

		Sited on an island off of Maine, this simple post-and-beam-framed vacation home was designed to be built cost-effectively in a remote setting where transporting materials was difficult.
	Photo: © Jeff Goldberg/Esto

Architects understand the language of construction and can help you protect yourself from incorrect interpretations of contract requirements by the contractor. The general conditions of the AIA Owner/Contractor Agreement assigns your architect the role of a shortstop intermediary in disputes between you and a contractor before a controversy goes to formal arbitration or litigation.

Manage the bidding process. Your architect can help provide a sense of fairness in the bidding process that is appreciated by both contractors and homeowners. By organizing the project requirements clearly, the architect can help minimize the possibility for bidders to misinterpret your project's requirements. You and your architect have worked hard to envision your project. With the additional assistance of an architect, you can expect that a bidder's proposal matches the project scope that you have in mind.

Photo: Robert Orr

Evaluate contractors' proposals. As the homeowner, a bid that is 30 percent lower than all the other contractors might seem like the best deal. But an architect would immediately suspect that the bidder left something out of the bid, made a mathematical error or did not prepare the bid carefully. You might assume that a low bidder has to do the project for the bid amount. But an architect understands that builders can make commitments they sometimes cannot fulfill. For a building project to be a success, it is crucial that the contractor selection process consider all factors.

Identify construction problems early on. Everyone can make mistakes, and not all problems can be foreseen when pen meets paper. When a project runs smoothly, problems discovered during construction are quickly corrected. Of all the members on the project team, your architect has the best mental picture of how the project's components relate to each other and how to make those corrections. An AIA architect has the experience to spot problems and deviations early on, before they can become too expensive or difficult to correct.

Visit the job site and administer construction. The creative problem-solving skills provided by an AIA architect during the project design stage are still available to you during the construction phase.

		Connecticut architect Robert Orr feels that whether building in Florida or New England, a structure should reflect the traditions and context of the place, and that the architect should come to learn the place so well that the design seems as though "we had always lived there."
	Photo: Robert Orr

With your architect personally administrating construction, you get informed reports of the project's progress, a trained eye toward quality control and protection against work that is not according to plan. With any building project, the familiar caution holds true: Expect the unexpected. Unanticipated problems--and opportunities--will arise during the course of construction. With an intimate knowledge of your project's history, the architect is a valuable asset in seizing new opportunities that are consistent with your design objectives.

Determine when the project is complete and evaluate contractor's payment requests. Evaluating the point at which a project is complete is not as simple as it seems. In the last stages of construction, both you and the contractor are tired and eager to move on. Your contractor may consider a project is complete sooner that you. Your architect can weigh the state of completion against the contract requirements and fairly note any items that remain to be completed. Naturally, there can be tension between a contractor's desire to get paid as much as possible as soon as possible, and your need to see that payments are in proper proportion to the work that is completed. Your architect has the expertise to assess the contractor's payment requests fairly. As your adviser, your architect can help prevent overpayment so that the contractor doesn't get paid until all obligations to you are fulfilled.

Photo: Norman McGrath

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