AIA Contract - Apr/May '04

AIA Contract Documents

If your clients include general contractors or architects, you eventually will have to work with the American Institute of Architect form documents. The previous AIA documents software, EF 3.0 Plus, included a proprietary word processor to edit AIA forms, but it was limited and there was no way to track changes between drafts. This all changed with the new AIA Contract Documents software.

The new AIA software uses the GhostFill document assembly engine to collect data and populate fields in a Microsoft Word template. Word then is used for editing. (Portable Document Format files can be generated and completed with Adobe Acrobat Reader.) GhostFill is an easy-to-use, but sophisticated document assembly engine, but it doesn’t work with Corel WordPerfect.

Completed documents are organized in separate “Projects” folders. Project information, such as the location, or contractor’s or architect’s name, is entered in GhostFill dialogs and is stored in the folder for use in future documents. As of February, all of the AIA form documents were included in the software and are available in three formats: Word documents, Word forms and PDF forms. The Word form allows specific fields to be edited, while to use the PDF form, you supply data by responding to dialog prompts.

You also can create custom AIA document templates that, for example, make documents “owner friendly.” These custom templates work just like the AIA supplied versions.

After you enter data, it’s inserted in the appropriate blanks, and your document is generated. You then can open the document in Word for further editing, if you used the Word form. PDF editing is done through dialogs.

Obviously, being able to use Word to edit your AIA documents is a vast improvement over using the previous word processor. A special AIA toolbar appears in Word, displaying several tools that include “Save,” “Track Changes,” and “Accept” or “Reject Changes.” You also can display a Word Document Map for easy navigation among document sections.

To track opposing counsel’s edits, you can create a collaboration version with “Track Changes” locked on. After you create the collaboration draft, you can click “Send Document” to e-mail it to opposing counsel.

When you finish editing a document, you have to generate a final, password-protected PDF version to prevent further editing. Also, each final version must be “variance checked” against the original AIA template. You have two choices: a redline version or a list of changes attached to the PDF file. I prefer the redline version because it shows changes in the body of the document instead of in a separate list.

While the new software is great, I had a few problems. For example, an agreement date was not entered into a generated draft, and “variance checking” was not always accurate; some changes were not flagged properly.

I also had an issue with the use of straight quotes in templates. After I searched and replaced all the straight quotes with curly quotes, my substitutions were redlined in the final version. I later discovered the software turned straight quotes in a template into curly quotes for the final PDF. Only the drafts have straight quotes. Strange.

Using collaboration drafts caused some confusion. After reading the online Help section, I understood if you created a collaboration draft, “Track Changes” would be forced on, but every time I tried it, I saw a dialog forcing “Track Changes off.” The AIA explained when you select the collaboration function, the software determines on-the-fly whether “Track Changes” is on or off and gives you other options.

My last issue involved the final PDF files. I often have additional exhibits in PDF format, such as lien waiver and supplier diversity forms, to include in each template. With the new locked PDF format, I no longer can insert these exhibits into the AIA template with Adobe Acrobat. E-mailing them separately could be troublesome.

Despite these problems, the new AIA software is a vast improvement over the previous version. The ability to edit in Word and create redlined drafts makes it easier to create AIA documents. Even if you don’t use AIA documents, you should try the demo, www.aia.org/documents/demo/default.asp, to see what GhostFill can do.

The AIA will stop supporting the EF 3.0 Plus software in December 2004. If you have pending projects to complete in the older version, AIA will provide temporary extensions.

The American Institute
of Architects
(800) 365-2724

www.aia.org

Price: $779 for one-year nonmember license; $559 for one-year member license; contact the American Institute of Architects for additional pricing.

Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP

Reviewed by Richard C. Belthoff Jr., vice president & assistant general counsel at Wachovia Corp. He can be reached via e-mail at richard.belthoff@
wachovia.com.

Apr/May '04 Issue

PROS
The ability to edit AIA templates and documents in Word and create redlined versions of drafts.

CONS
Using password-protected PDF files for final versions limits the ability to add additional documents to the PDF file.

VERDICT
Highly recommended if you work with AIA documents because creating and editing templates and documents in Word is much easier than with earlier AIA software. Plus, you now can create redlines, which was not possible with previous software.