AOD RELEASES SECOND IN CONTRACT SERIES


ANNOUNCEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC -


Associated Owners and Developers (AOD) announced today the release of the
AOD 2002 GC - Standard Form of Agreement between Owner and Contractor for
Work on a Cost Plus Fee Basis with a Guaranteed Maximum Contract Price (the
"Agreement"). The Agreement is the second in a series of standard form
construction documents that AOD will soon make available for use throughout
the industry.

"Not unlike AOD's Fixed Price Agreement, this Agreement will continue to
change the way in which standard form agreements are used on construction
projects," according to Ira Genberg, AOD's general counsel and chairman of
the overseeing committee for the drafting of the Agreement. Genberg leads
the construction law and litigation department at Smith, Gambrell &
Russell, LLP, the century-old Atlanta law firm that drafted the Agreement.

Genberg explains that, "We drafted the Agreement with a deep respect for
what had been achieved in the past, but with an unwavering belief that
those achievements could be the foundation for a leap forward.  We took a
hard look at the provisions in other standard form agreements, and asked
how we could better promote the success of the project and the interests of
all parties involved. We wanted a standard form contract that is both
project driven and fundamentally fair to the parties."

This approach led to many innovations, including the use of a menu system
that provides the building team with a choice in how they address some of
the more commonly negotiated contract provisions. The menu system allows
the parties to review several alternate provisions and select the standard
provision that best fits the project and their concerns. As a result, said
parties can customize the Agreement using standard form language. Other
standard form agreements may be customized only by using non-standard
language, which often leads to inconsistencies, prolonged negotiations, and
uncertainty as to the legal interpretation of such language.

Despite allowing customization, the Agreement does not fundamentally alter
the traditional balance of risk between parties. Traditionally, risk is
assigned to the party best able to manage it. However, while other standard
form agreements have increasingly shifted more risk to the Owner, the AOD
Agreement does not automatically assign to the Owner risks that cannot be
fairly assigned to other parties. Rather, the Agreement splits these risks
between the parties.

AOD's Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor for Work on a
Cost Plus Fee Basis with a Guaranteed Maximum Price is now available to the
public.

For more information on AOD 2002 GC contract, please contact Connie at AOD
at Tel: 703-734-2397, Fax 703-734-2908, e-mail: aod@constructionchannel.net

Cost: Non Members - $250.00 US - Members - FREE

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