Form to Formation

This article by Preston Gates & Ellis Anchorage partner Paul L. Davis appears in the May 2006 edition of Alaska Business Monthly.  It discusses how the search for front-end efficiencies can derail construction project agreements:

In all but the smallest construction projects, written project agreements are a necessity and, depending on the complexity of the project and number of parties involved, can evolve from a few pages to many.  When anticipating construction projects, parties often spend more time visualizing the project itself, overlooking the time or money necessary to fully develop a new project agreement.  The result is the frequent use of standard form agreements that are modified, many times by the parties themselves, to fit the circumstances of the new project’s specifications.  While this may create efficiencies, project owners may find themselves more disadvantaged by the use of standard forms than contractors and designers.

View the full article here.