Glossary of AE Terms

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A

Addendum -Notification of changes that occur between when the bid documents are issued and when the bids are taken/received.

Agreement - A legally enforceable promise or promises between two or among several parties. The document setting forth the terms of the contract between the Design Professional and Owner or Consultant.

As-Built Drawing (As-Builts) - A drawing or print marked by the Contractor to show actual conditions of a project as constructed. Often referred to as 'redlines' because the changes between the design and construction are marked in red to be easily identifiable.

B

Bid - A complete and signed proposal to do construction work or a designated portion thereof for the dollar amount stated.

Bidding and Negotiation (BN) - The period during which bids are evaluated by the Owner, usually with the assistance of the design professional, who then enters into a contract with the successful bidder.  The successful bidder is typically the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.  An Owner is not obligated to accept the lowest bid - or any of the bids. The Owner may decide to accept one of the bids, reject all the bids, or negotiate with one of the bidders as allowed by the procurement policies of the owner.

Budget - The sum established by the Owner as available for the entire Project, including the construction budget, land costs, equipment costs, financing costs, compensation for professional services, contingency allowance and other similar established or estimated costs.

Building Permit - A permit issued by a village, town, city, county, state or federal government authority allowing construction of a project in accordance with approved Drawings and Specifications.

C

Change Order - An amendment to the construction contract signed by the Owner, Architect (Engineer) and Contractor that authorizes a change in the work that results in an adjustment to the contract sum or the contract time or both.

Construction Administration -

Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) - 

Consultant - An individual or organization engaged by the Owner or Architect (Engineer) to render professional consulting services, supplementing their services. Examples of types of consultants could be engineers, acoustical, energy or cost consultants.

Contract Administration - The duties and responsibilities of the Architect (Engineer) during the Construction Phase, which includes observation of construction, checking shop drawings and approving pay requests.

Contract Documents - All of the documents which make up the contract between Owner and Contractor, including the Contract itself, the General and Special Conditions, the Technical Specifications, the Construction Documents, all Addenda issued prior to the signing of the contract and Change Orders issued by the Owner and agreed to by the Contractor after the signing of the Contract.

D

Design/Build - A method of project delivery in which the Owner contracts directly with a single entity that is responsible for both design and construction services for a construction project.

Design Development (DD) - Stage of the project design following Schematic Design where the earlier approved design concept is developed and coordinated in detail by Architect, Engineers, and all other required consultants.  During this phase the scaled drawings of the site plan, floor plans, elevations are created and presented to owner or client for input, review and approval.  These drawings are used for the preliminary project cost estimates. 

Division of Specifications - Organizational subdivisions used in the specifications and in construction information filing.

E

Elevation - A drawing on the front, side or rear of the building drawn to scale; The height above the surface of the earth or the vertical distance from a given reference elevation.

F

Feasibility Study - A detailed investigation and analysis conducted to determine the financial, economic, technical or other advisability of a proposed project.

G

General Conditions - The written part of the Contract Documents which sets forth many of the rights, responsibilities and relationships of the parties involved in the project.

H

I

J

K

L

Lien (Mechanic's Lien) - A legal charge on a property in favor of persons supplying labor or materials for a building for the value of labor or materials supplied to them. Clear title to the claim is settled through the "release of liens" which is accomplished through a form given to the Owner by the Contractor.

M

Mezzanine - An intermediary floor having less than 1/2 of the area than the floor below.

N

O

On Center (O.C.) - The distance from the center of one structure member to the center of another. This term is usually used for spacing studs, joists and rafters.

Opinion of Probable Cost  (OPC) - Although many clients refer to this as a “cost estimate” or budget estimate for upcoming projects that are still in the planning stages they are not actual estimates. The word estimate should is only correctly used is the amount is provided by a true estimator or estimating firm. These requests are usually made during the schematic or design development phase.  They may be in orders of magnitude and are the opinion of the design professional(s).

P

Preliminary Design (PD) - Phase of a design project where the client's desires for the project are ascertained and contract terms are negotiated before any design is completed.

Project Manual - Typically 8.5" x 11" paper size bound book of written documents prepared by Design Professional for a project; CSI (Construction Specifications Institute) defines as comprised of general conditions, bid requirements and technical specs; used by Contractor in bidding and building the project.

Project Phases - Project phases as listed from AIA - B101 Scope of Architect's Basic services include:  Schematic Design Phase; Design Development Phase; Construction Documents Phase; Bidding/Negotiation Phase; Construction Phase.

Proposal - A formal document most often prepared in the form of a letter. The proposal identifies each party, the specific location of the property involved, a brief description of the project, a basic scope of services to be performed by the design professional and a proposed compensation structure.

Punch List - A list prepared by the Client or their Authorized Representative of items of work requiring immediate corrective or completion action by the Contractor; a list of discrepancies that need to be corrected by the Contractor.

Q

R

Record Drawings - Drawings created by the design professional by taking the Contractor "redlines" and generating an electronic file/document for future use; typically signed off on by Contractor. Often drawing titleblock information and professional seals are removed before giving them to the Owner. 

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) - Usually refers to the pre-qualification stage of the procurement process. Typically, only those respondents who successfully respond to the RFQ and meet the qualification criteria will be included in the subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP) solicitation process.

S

Schematic Design (SD) - Initial design phase of a design project where the general scope and conceptual design of the project is sketched out and presented to the owner or client for approval.

Specifications - A part of the construction documents contained in the project manual or included within the construction drawings consisting of technical written requirements for the materials, equipment, construction systems and standards of workmanship.

Shop Drawings - Drawings, diagrams, illustrations, schedules, performance charts, brochures and other data prepared by the Contractor or any subcontractor, manufacturer, supplier or distributor, which illustrates how specific portions of the Work will be fabricated or installed. This is the last change to catch a mistake before manufacturing of a product begins (it's cheaper to fix it now...)

Site - The geographical location of the Project, usually defined by the legal boundary lines.

Substantial Completion - The stage of construction or building project or designated portion of the project that is sufficiently complete, in accordance with the construction contract documents, so that the Owner may use or occupy the building project or designated portion thereof purposes, without undue interference. The Date of Substantial Completion is when the warranty period begins.

Survey - Boundary and/or topographic mapping of a site.

T

U

V

W

Waiver of Lien - An instrument by which a person or organization who has or may have a right of mechanic's lien against the proper of another relinquishes such right. Waivers of lien are provided to the Owner by the General Contractor and their subcontractors and suppliers, at a time when a pay request is submitted.

X

Y

Z

Zoning - The control by a municipality for the use of land and buildings, the height and bulk of buildings, the density of population, the relation of a lot's building coverage to open space, the size and location of yards and setbacks, and the provision of any ancillary facilities such as parking. Zoning is established through the adoption of a municipal ordinance and is a principal instrument in the implementation of a master plan.