AIA Contract Documents (A201 family)
The three AIA documents Florida's reference lists allow at your seat: A201 General Conditions (2017), A401 Contractor-Subcontractor Agreement (2017), and A701 Instructions to Bidders (2018). The rest of the AIA family is still tested, but from memory, since the state's lists leave it out.
119 questions in our bank cite this reference.
The one thing to know
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.
Your tab set
Florida exams allow pre-tabbed, highlighted references. Build these tabs before exam day, in book order.
The contract documents, definitions, order of precedence
Supervision, submittals & shop drawings (3.11–3.12), concealed conditions (3.7.4), allowances (3.8), warranties
Change orders vs construction change directives
Contract time, delay causes, extensions of time
Schedule of values (9.2), retainage, substantial completion (9.8), final payment (9.10), punch list
Required coverage, waiver of subrogation
1-year correction period (12.2)
For cause vs for convenience
21-day notice, initial decision maker, mediation before binding resolution
Mediation and binding dispute resolution with your subcontractor
Progress payments to the subcontractor
Subcontractor coverage requirements and surety bonds
Bidding documents, substitutions, and addenda
Bid security, modifying or withdrawing a bid, withdrawal after a clerical error (4.4.3)
How bids are considered; the owner's evidence of financial arrangements
Performance bond and payment bond requirements as the bidding documents set them
Highlight the question, underline the answer
Don't just tab your books — mark them as you practice. Every time a question sends you into a reference, leave a two-part mark behind: highlight the passage the question is about, and underline the exact words that answer it. Do this through your whole question bank and the book turns into a map of the tested material — so on exam day you recognize the spot, not just the section.
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Highlight what the question asks about
When you look up a practice question, highlight the sentence or table the question turns on. That block is now a visual landmark you'll spot on a fast flip.
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Underline the exact answer
Inside the highlight, underline the specific number, deadline, or phrase that is the answer — with a fine-tip pen. Highlight = the topic; underline = the fact.
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Color-code by what trips you up
Use one highlighter color for deadlines and numbers, another for definitions, a third for the answers you got wrong twice. Your weak spots become the brightest marks in the book.
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Let your tabs and marks compound
A tab gets you to the chapter; the highlight gets you to the paragraph; the underline gets you to the answer. Built up across a full question bank, that three-layer trail is the open-book skill the exam actually tests.
All marking must be done before you walk in — the rules allow pre-marked books but bar making any new marks (or bringing notes) during the exam.
Navigating under time pressure
- Florida's lists name three AIA documents and no others. The agreement forms (A101, A102, A133), the bond forms (A310, A312), and the G-series pay applications (G702/G703, G707) stay outside the exam room, so anything they cover has to be memory rather than a lookup.
- Changes: change order (all three parties) vs CCD (owner + architect, work proceeds) is Article 7.
- Payment mechanics run through Article 9: schedule of values, certificates, retainage, substantial completion.
- Claims have a 21-day notice rule and a mediation-first sequence in Article 15.
- A401 incorporates the prime contract by reference, so what the owner can require of you, you can generally require of your subcontractor. That flow-down is what A401 questions usually turn on.