March 2019 Edition
by American Subcontractors Association
ASA’s Subcontract Documents Suite reflects the improvements made in recent revisions to the ConsensusDocs standard subcontract documents. In late 2016, ConsensusDocs revised its documents to reflect evolving technology and insurance products and to assure consistency and clarity among all the documents in the ConsensusDocs portfolio.
The ASA Subcontractor Bid Proposal offers a subcontractor and its client an opportunity to establish the standard terms of the ASA-endorsed ConsensusDocs 750, Standard Agreement Between Constructor and Subcontractor as the basis for their subcontract. If a client accepts the subcontractor’s bid that has been properly conditioned with this form, a binding contract exists based on the terms of the ConsensusDocs Form 750.
Other documents in the ASA Subcontract Documents Suite help subcontractors deal with complicated issues like payment, indemnity, extra work and claims that force them to shoulder the risks best borne by others. If not already obligated to sign a particular subcontract, a subcontractor can use the ASA Subcontract Addendum to ask a client to modify its proposed subcontract to eliminate a wide range of potentially harmful provisions. In more limited negotiations, a subcontractor can use the ASA Short-Form Subcontract Addendum, which would modify the client’s subcontract in four key areas: hold harmless, insurance, payment, and changes and claims.
Both the bid proposal and subcontract addenda state that the subcontractor will not participate in a wrap-up insurance program. For projects that require wrap-up insurance, the ASA Subcontract Documents Suite includes Wrap-up Insurance Bid Conditions and Wrap-up Insurance Subcontract Conditions. These tools give subcontractors the right to supplement the insurance provided by the wrap-up; limit their own insurance to not apply to the work covered by the wrap-up; limit their contractual indemnity to the coverage and limits provided by the wrap-up; indemnify against paying wrap-up deductibles; and procure replacement insurance or terminate the subcontract agreement at the client’s cost if the wrap-up insurance is discontinued.
ASA members can access the ASA Subcontract Documents Suite in the Info Hub, ASA’s members-only library of tools and resources, by logging in using the Member Login button at www.asaonline.com, then choosing “Contracts & Project Management” in Resources.
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