ConsensusDocs Releases Industry First Design-Build Joint Venture Agreement and a Teaming Agreement

This month ConsensusDocs released a new Design-Build Joint Venture Agreement, 499, and a new Teaming Agreement, 296. As the first industry standard joint venture for design-build, the document fills an important need. Constructors, architects and engineers are increasingly using joint venture relationships on projects utilizing the design-build project delivery method. Many potential joint venture relationships, which can be filled by constructors, design professionals or multiple permutations of those parties can use this new contract document. The new document helps parties address issues such as licensing and insurance requirements, as well as risk allocation issues. The new Teaming Agreement helps parties memorialize roles and responsibilities in submitting a project bid or proposal.

Companies working on joint ventures now have two additional standardized forms that help simplify getting contracts signed and work performed. “The new Teaming Agreement provides standard terms and conditions for those parties wanting to create a team for submitting a proposal under the traditional building method,” states Kory D. George, partner at Woods & Aitken LLP and chair of the ConsensusDocs joint venture working group. “The Joint Venture Agreement was drafted specifically to address the unique contracting relationship required for a design-build project, and provides the team with a good contractual basis for delivering a better project.”

Coalition Provides New Options for Mediation and Dispute Review Boards to Resolve Disputes Efficiently

The ConsensusDocs Coalition announced December 11, its new tool to effectively address alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the design and construction industry. Guided Choice dispute resolution system is a new approach to mediation for a more active and holistic approach role for a mediator to actively guide parties towards resolution. In its ConsensusDocs Guidebook, ConsensusDocs is now including information on how to implement Guided Choice. In fact, ConsensusDocs provided a seminar educating users about the new dispute resolution process at the 2nd annual Construction SuperConference Workshop held earlier this month in San Francisco, CA. The American Arbitration Association (AAA) will honor requests from parties to use the Guided Choice process in AAA administered mediation through arbitration.

Like the recently published ConsensusDocs Dispute Review Board Addendum documents, endorsed by the Dispute Review Board Foundation (DRBF), Guided Choice mediation provides a relatively new and effective ADR method that ConsensusDocs is integrating as a flexible option in its library of over 100+ standard contract documents. “While most disputes settle, that happens so late that substantial legal and expert costs are incurred. Guided Choice mediation is a concrete step to reduce the cost of resolving construction disputes to achieve better and earlier settlements,” comments the pioneer of the Guided Choice concept, Paul Lurie, Esq. of the law firm of Schiff Hardin in Chicago, Ill.

The following ConsensusDocs contracts were released in 2013:

296 Teaming Agreement
499 Joint Venture Agreement for Design-Build
200.4 Dispute Review Board (DRB) Addendum
200.5 Tri-Party Agreement regarding DRB’s
297 Joint Venture Line Item Agreement

Each of the following ConsensusDocs contracts are in the ballot process stage (when each Coalition member decides if their organization will endorse the document and if their organization’s logo will be placed on the document). After the ballot process ends, ConsensusDocs releases the document.

The following ConsensusDocs contracts are in the ballot process stage:

256 Constructor & Geotechnical Consultant Agreement (by February)
257 Constructor & Consultant Agreement (by February)
831 CM Agency Agreement – No General Conditions (by February)

For more information, visit www.ConsensusDocs.org.

Request a Free Sample ConsensusDocs Contract

Remember that full, sample ConsensusDocs contracts can be requested. To request a full sample ConsensusDocs contract for your internal review purposes, fill out the ConsensusDocs Sample Request form that is at www.consensusdocs.org. Note that any use of the contract, other than for internal review purposes, must come from a valid subscription purchase at www.consensusdocs.org.

Copyright Licensing

Anyone interested in using ConsensusDocs for educational or legal research purposes can apply for a free ConsensusDocs copyright license. Once the application is processed, applicants will receive a numbered copyright license letter and full watermarked samples of the requested documents. Licenses must be renewed on a yearly basis, and are contingent upon compliance with the terms of the license letter. To complete an application for copyright licensing, visit the resources page at ConsensusDocs.org and click on the words “Copyright Application.”

FREE Live Training ConsensusDocs Platform Webinars in 2014

ConsensusDocs has the following FREE Live Training Webinars scheduled to help anyone learn how to get started with ConsensusDocs’ Online Cloud Platform:
Thursday, January 16, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Wednesday, February 12, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Thursday, March 13, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Thursday, April 17, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Tuesday, May 13, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Wednesday, June 11, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Thursday, July 10, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Tuesday, August 19, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Thursday, September 18, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Wednesday, November 11, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET – (Links to come soon)
Wednesday, December 11, 2014, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET – (Links to come soon)

To register for the above free Webinars, visit the Webinar page at ConsensusDocs.org.

Remember: The NASBP membership receives a 20% discount on all ConsensusDocs purchases. Simply use Discount Code “NASBP400” when prompted at purchase at www.ConsensusDocs.org.

ConsensusDocs Documents are the only contracts endorsed by 40 leading design and construction industry organizations. Offering a library of 100+ contract documents addressing all methods of project delivery, ConsensusDocs incorporate fair risk allocation and best practices to represent the project’s best interests. Coalition members represent design professionals, owners, contractors, subcontractors and sureties (DOCS). For more information, visit www.ConsensusDocs.org, call 1-866-925-DOCS (3627) or email support@ConsensusDocs.org.

NASBP is an endorsing organization of the ConsensusDocs coalition, an unprecedented effort by 40 industry organizations to identify industry best practices and to incorporate such practices in a new generation of construction industry standard form documents. Find out more at the NASBP’s involvement with ConsensusDocs by clicking here.