The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) has released what it claims to be the first and only full set of warranty bonds, proposal bonds, and payment and performance bonds that are specifically crafted for design-build projects.
A task force within the Washington-based DBIA, chaired by G. William Quatman, the general counsel for Burns and McDonnell, worked over the past year on forms that are tailored to this sector. The coauthors of the forms include designers and builders. The National Association of Surety Bond Producers and the Surety & Fidelity Association of America have endorsed the documents.
The new family of bond forms includes a Proposal Bond (610), a Warranty Bond (615), and three sets of Payment and Performance Bonds for Design-Builders (620 and 625), Contractors (640 and 645), and Subcontractors (630 and 635).
“Mirroring the design-build philosophy, DBIA’s family of contract documents is reflective of our diverse membership base representing the needs of both public and private owners, general and specialty contractors, architects, consultants, and engineers,” says Lisa Washington, the Institute’s Executive Director and CEO. “They are written to guide success for the entire project team – owners and practitioners alike.”
A spokesperson for the Institute, Geoff Corey, tells BD+C that his organization focuses primarily on nonresidential activities. “So these forms would be of real interest to [AEC] firms doing design-build commercial or government projects.”
He also points out that many AEC firms that don’t specialize in design-build enter these projects through joint ventures and LLCs, or are hired subcontractors. “They would probably be interested in using these model forms since they’ve been created for design-build projects,” says Corey.
DBIA states that the advantage of these documents is that they offer one solicitation, one award, and one contract to administer. The documents are also adaptable to a project team’s characteristics.
The bond forms, as well as other contract and consent forms are available on DBIA’s website.
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