Every contractor form that your construction company uses must work with one another. A common mistake is failing to provide for the forms you wish to use, in the construction contract or the home improvement contract. You can't pull a construction form "out of thin air" and expect that the recipient is bound to comply or agree to it's content.
- For example, if you want to use a change order, the agreement between the parties must have a properly written provision in it providing for any changes. Without this, the other party to the construction agreement can refuse the change order outright!
- If a general contractor wishes to use construction management forms like a subcontractors Notice to Perform or a subcontractors Back Charge Notice, there better be a provision in the subcontract between the general and his subs that binds the sub to the terms in these forms! If not, the sub can simply ignore the form and say it's not part of their subcontract!
It is ALWAYS important to KNOW exactly WHY any provision is included in any construction contract, home improvement contract or subcontract agreement. Not just the legal WHY and the WHY from case law, but also the WHY from experience in the construction trade!
There are so many "home grown" construction forms floating around the internet that were created from information "borrowed" from other forms by people who add things just "because they sound good."
Beware of any construction form created by or sold by someone who cannot answer the question WHY!
How do YOUR contractors forms work together? Educate us! Here's your chance, don't be shy. Comment below.
