Certified General Contractor/Contract Admin

Changes, Claims & Disputes

22% of this exam

The A201 machinery for changes and disputes: change orders vs construction change directives, the 21-day claims clock, differing site conditions, and the mediation-first resolution ladder. This is the most A201-citation-heavy domain — almost every answer is in Article 7 or Article 15.

Core concepts

Change order vs CCD

A change order is signed by all three parties — owner, contractor, and architect — and adjusts scope, sum, or time by agreement. A construction change directive (CCD) is signed by only the owner and architect and orders the work to proceed before price or time is agreed; once agreement is reached it becomes a change order. The contractor must proceed under a CCD.

Claims have a 21-day fuse

Under A201 Article 15, a claim must be initiated by written notice within 21 days after the event (or after the claimant first recognizes the condition, whichever is later). Late notice can waive the claim. The Initial Decision Maker — the architect, unless someone else is named — rules first; mediation is then a condition precedent to arbitration or litigation.

Differing site conditions come in two types

Type I: actual conditions differ materially from what the contract documents indicated (rock at 8 feet where borings showed sand). Type II: an unknown condition of an unusual nature for the area — no contract representation needed. Both can support a claim for time and money.

Delay damages are fenced in

Liquidated damages are enforceable only as a reasonable pre-estimate of delay damages — never as a penalty. A201's mutual waiver of consequential damages bars the owner's lost rents and profits (and the contractor's home-office overhead), leaving liquidated damages as the delay remedy. A no-damages-for-delay clause limits the contractor to a time extension only.

Key facts to know cold

Change order signaturesOwner + contractor + architect (A201 Art. 7)

CCDOwner + architect only; work proceeds before price/time agreed (A201 Art. 7)

Claim notice21 days from the event or recognition of the condition (A201 Art. 15)

Initial Decision MakerThe architect, unless the parties designate someone else (A201 Art. 15)

Before arbitration/litigationMediation is a condition precedent (A201 Art. 15)

Liquidated damagesEnforceable as a reasonable forecast of delay damages, not a penalty

Where it lives in your books

The real exam is open book. Knowing which book — and which tab — answers this domain is worth as much as memorizing it.

contract

AIA Documents

A201 article numbers are the map: Art. 3 contractor, Art. 7 changes, Art. 8 time, Art. 9 payments, Art. 11 insurance, Art. 12 corrections, Art. 14 termination, Art. 15 claims. Most Contract Admin questions cite one of these.

12 recommended tabs

Lookup strategy

· Tab two articles and you own this domain: A201 Article 7 (changes — CO vs CCD signature rules) and Article 15 (claims — 21 days, IDM, mediation-first).
· Differing site conditions sit in A201 §3.7.4 — the Type I/Type II distinction turns on whether the contract documents represented the condition.

Reading isn't learning — retrieval is.

14 questions in this domain, each with an explanation and source.