Hazardous material, change order, and owner/GC disagreements

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Christina Fu

August 25, 2020 23:23

I encountered two very similar questions, one from Gang Chen, and one from Ballast, regarding Hazardous material, change order, and owner/GC disagreements.  Both questions goes something like this:

GC found hazardous material, informed owner and arch.  Owner agrees to have it tested and removed. GC got the work done and presented the owner change in time and additional contract amount.  Owner refuses to pay the additional contract amount.  

What should the Architect do?

So I am confused if this situation it should go straight to mediation because the situation has to do with Hazardous material, or if the Architect should act as IDM because it has to do with contract time and money.

Ballast and Gang Chen had different answer for this situation, so I'm confused...

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  Mehmet Sahin August 28, 2020 01:38

  What are the questions and answers in both resources? Your question is not very clear.

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  Sally Nguyen September 24, 2020 03:16

  Hi Christina,

  I'm not sure if you are still looking for answers to your question, sorry if I came across this too late! I believe the architect would act as IDM first before mediation is considered. The AHPP and the AIA contracts assert that any claims would be presented to the IDM, and whatever the IDM decides it will be up to the owner and contractor to decide if they want to settle with the IDM's decision or proceed to mediation. I think generally it is okay to assume that whenever there's a dispute between the owner and contractor the first resolution would be to go to the IDM.

  Hope this helps!

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  Gang Chen September 24, 2020 04:55 (Edited September 24, 2020 16:20)

  Spoiler alert: If you have not done the mock exam in my book, Construction & Evaluation (CE) ARE 5.0 Mock Exam (Architect Registration Exam), please do NOT read the following answer and explanation. Otherwise, your score is not accurate, and you are cheating yourself in the exam prep process. Here it is:

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  The dispute should proceed directly to mediation. Any disputes related to hazardous materials should proceed directly to mediation. They are NOT referred to the IDM or the architect.

  See comment of Article 10.3.2 of the FREE PDF file of commentary for AIA document A201, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction.

  

  Gang Chen, Author, Architect, LEED AP BD+C (GreenExamEducation.com)

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  Christina Fu September 24, 2020 15:05

  Thanks Gang Chen, for the clarification.  This is what I thought too from reading the AIA contracts.  

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