What is EJCDC?
EJCDC stands for Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee®. It is a coalition of stakeholders in the project delivery process who develop and endorse quality contract documents and encourage their use through education and promotion.
What three organizations comprise EJCDC?
The three organizations that comprise EJCDC are:
- The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC),
- The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE),
- The American Society of Civil Engineers - Construction Institute (ASCE-CI).
- And, in order to include other interested groups, EJCDC allows observers such as ABA; APWA; CMAA; CSI; NUCA; USDA/RUS; FIDIC; DBIA; AIA; WWEMA; American Congress of Surveying & Mapping; American Arbitration Association; CNA/Schinnerer (VOSCO); AXAXL Insurance, and others.
When and why was EJCDC founded?
EJCDC has existed since 1975 to develop and update fair and objective standard documents that represent the latest and best thinking in contractual relations between all parties involved in engineering design and construction projects.
Driven by increased professional liability exposure of engineers, including lack of privity and the absence of a contractual relationship not a bar to a third-party claims, such as injured worker claims and contractor economic loss claims, EJCDC came together to develop objective standard documents that represent both parties in engineer-designed construction projects in the United States. EJCDC documents are intended to be objective, clear, thorough and consistent with current practice and laws, as well as responsive to user needs.
How are EJCDC documents created?
EJCDC documents are developed in subcommittees comprised of experienced engineers and attorney’s advice. These subcommittees consider and review all conditions and contingencies that could take place in the completion of an engineer-designed and lead construction or infrastructure development project in the U.S. Once the committee has agreed on a contract, it is then presented to the full EJCDC Committee for approval.
How should EJCDC documents be used?
It is important to know the content of the document as these documents are tailored for specific projects. One should understand that a change in one may require change in one or more other documents. EJCDC recommends that a legal review be made, especially if any part of a document has been changed.
What document families are published by EJCDC?
EJCDC publishes six families of documents as follows:
- Engineering (Owner-Engineer, Engineer-Subconsultant)
These documents are updated on an ongoing basis and are dated from 2014-2017. They include: Owner-Engineer Agreements (full and short-form), structured as basic terms plus contract-specific exhibits with detailed scope of services. This family includes Agreements between owners and consultants such as geotechnical and design engineer, and engineers and subconsultants, such as architects. The Engineering family of documents also includes a Joint Venture Agreement, Peer Review Agreement, and Program Management Agreement. Terms and conditions for use can be found in the EJCDC Engineering Series License Agreement. - Construction
The Construction Family Documents (C-Series) are intended for engineered construction projects. The current edition (2018) is endorsed by both the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and the National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA). View the in-depth presentation on EJCDC’s Construction documents given at the ABA Construction Forum Webinar in June 2019. The series comprises 25 integrated documents coordinated with Engineering Family Documents (E-Series). The C-Series documents assume the design Engineer is involved during construction. Document number C-700, General Conditions, is the keystone of C-Series and other EJCDC document families. The document includes provisions for payment alternatives such as Lump Sum and Cost-Plus, and considers risk allocation consistent with industry norms. The current edition was written in 2018. Terms and conditions for use can be found in the Construction Series License Agreement 2018. - Construction Management as Advisor
The EJCDC® Construction Manager as Advisor (CMA) document series is intended for projects in which the Owner’s primary representative during construction will be the Construction Manager as Advisor (CM). The series is an alternative to the use of the EJCDC Construction Series, on projects in which Engineer that prepared the design subsequently serves as the Owner’s construction contract administrator. The Construction Manager as Advisor Series of documents clarify the respective roles and responsibilities of the Engineer and Construction Manager as Advisor recognizing the contributions each makes to the design and delivery of a construction project. The CMA‑Series is comprised of contract documents, administrative forms, bonds, and bidding/procurement documents. Terms and conditions for use can be found in the Construction Manager as Advisor (CMA) License Agreement. - Construction Management at Risk
The EJCDC Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) document series is intended for projects in which the owner retains a construction manager at risk (CMAR) to provide preconstruction services and then construct the project. The Construction Manager at Risk method of delivering projects evolved from traditional design-bid-build by involving the construction contractor early in the project. The new EJCDC CMAR Series is suitable for both public and private work. The series features several documents used for the project owner’s selection of the CMAR, such as a model Request for Qualifications, Statement of Qualifications, and Request for Proposals. The CMAR Series is offered for those projects where an alternative is appropriate—most notably when construction expertise is needed during the design phase, and fast-tracking of work packages will allow for early completion and cost-effective construction. The 2023 CMAR documents are modeled after their industry-standard counterparts in the EJCDC 2018 Construction Series documents but have been customized to address the nuances of a CMAR project. Terms and conditions for use can be found in the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) License Agreement. - Design/Build
The EJCDC Design-Build Family of Documents (D-Series) includes 17 Design-Build documents, including agreements (lump sum and cost-plus), general conditions, performance bond, payment bond, Owner-DB, DB-Engineer, DB-Sub. The current edition was written in 2016. EJCDC’s Public-Private Partnership agreement P3-508 is perfectly integrated with the Design-Build Series documents. Terms and conditions for use can be found in the Design Build License Agreement. - Procurement (Buyer-Seller)The Procurement Family of Documents (P-Series) are specific for engineer-designed or specified equipment, usually procured with a long lead time. The Summary of Changes P Series 2019 from 2010 can be seen here. The term “Procurement” as used by EJCDC refers to the purchase of Goods (typically equipment or systems that will be installed in a facility, or in some cases construction materials) and related Special Services. The purchaser (“Buyer”) is the Project Owner. In most cases such a purchase will be initiated in the early stages of a project, before the overall design is complete and before the Project Owner has selected and brought a construction contractor under contract. The Seller will be either a manufacturer or a vendor/supplier. The EJCDC Procurement Series of documents provides the user with forms and documents for obtaining bids from prospective Sellers, and for establishing the Procurement Contract itself. The ten documents in the P-Series include Instructions to Project Owners and Bidders, Bid Form, Buyer Seller Agreement, Performance Bond, Payment Bond, General Conditions, Supplementary Conditions, Notices of Receipt and Conformity of Goods, narrative guide documents use UCC terminology. The current edition was updated in 2019. Terms and conditions for use can be found in the EJCDC 2019 P Series License Agreement.
What user guidance is available?
EJCDC's sponsoring organizations publish occasional white papers and conduct regular seminars and other educational events. Some of the documents are guidance documents that can be tailored by user. Standard form documents include “Notes to User” to assist specifiers in preparation.
We also highly recommend you download and review the FREE Commentary documents (construction, design-build, engineering, procurement) available with many of our contract document families prior to use. These documents effectively serve as a user guide for those families.
What are the principal advantages of using EJCDC standard documents?
EJCDC documents conform to recognized organizational format (CSI MasterFormat). They have been tested over decades of use and interpreted in courts of various jurisdictions.
EJCDC documents reduce the potential for errors, omissions, redundancies, or conflicts in construction docs. All documents are fully coordinated and integrated. The documents provide for industry-accepted distribution of risk among project participants. Familiarity with these documents by both the Bidder/Contractor may result in improved prices bid to Owner.
The documents are updated approximately every five to seven years to reflect industry trends, court decisions, and changes in applicable laws and regulations.
They are suitable for public works and private sector.
Finally, EJCDC documents are more cost-effective than alternate standard documents because they can be reused for multiple projects. In short, EJCDC documents are the most-thorough and best-organized standard documents available.
