The primary focus of this text is to provide a bridge for students between the academic world and the real world. This bridge is built through an understanding of what is law, how law is created, how law affects almost every activity of human conduct, and how legal institutions operate. Intended mainly for architectural and engineering students, but increasingly for those in business schools and law schools, this text features a clear, concise, and jargon-free presentation. It probes beneath the surface of legal rules and uncovers why these rules developed as they did, outlines arguments for and against these rules, and examines how they work in practice. Updated with the most recent developments in the legal aspects of architectural, engineering, and the construction processes, this text is also a valuable reference for practitioners that has been cited in over twenty-five court decisions.

Key Features

• Provides the legal backdrop against which engineers and architects must perform professional services.
• Describes the alternatives for performing design professional services and methods of formalizing these agreed services.
• Avoids the law as a "puzzle" that baffles those who seek to comply with the law.
• Recent developments in loss distribution have been updated as well as the regulating conduct by the new rulings in tort law.
• The distinction between basic and additional services is highlighted as are the different methods of compensation.
• Understandable text that highlights recurring issues, such as extras, allocation of responsibility during construction among the major actors, resolution of disputes and termination.
• Concentration on the new provisions in the standard documents published by the AIA and EJCDC (included in the Appendix).
• Familiarizes students with industry practices and avoids disputes.

About The Author
Justin Sweet is the John H. Boalt Professor of Law, Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley. Born and raised in Wisconsin, he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he received a B.A., phi beta kappa, in literature in 1951 and an LL.B. in 1953. He was note editor for the "Law Review" and Order of the Coif. After serving on the staff of the attorney general of Wisconsin, he was in the Judge-Advocate General's Corps and later practiced in Milwaukee. He joined the Boalt faculty in 1958, where he taught Contracts, Construction Law, and Insurance until the early 1990s. Sweet was a visiting professor at the University of Rome (as a Fulbright Lecturer), Hebrew University, University of Leuven in Belgium, Osgoode Hall in Canada, Tel-Aviv University, and the University of Fribourg. He has written articles in many legal journals, many of which were collected in Sweet, Anthology of Construction Law Writings by the American Bar Association in 2010. He also wrote Sweet on Construction Law for the American Bar Association in 1997. Beginning in 2010, he has been writing on historic cases in each issue of the Journal of Legal Affairs & Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction. He was the co-founder and director of the International Construction Conference. It met in Fribourg, Switzerland, Berkeley, California and Washington D.C.

Marc M. Schneier For nearly thirty years, Marc M. Schneier has been the Editor of Construction Litigation Reporter, a national reporter analyzing legal developments in the construction industry, which is published by Thomson Reuters/West. He was an Adjunct Professor of Construction Law at the University of San Francisco School of Law, has published numerous articles in various legal journals, and provides consulting services. His first book was Construction Accident Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Legal Liability and Insurance Claims, published by the American Bar Association in 1999. His most recent book is Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process, 8th edition, co-authored by Justin Sweet and published in 2009 by Cengage Learning. Marc earned his B.A. in Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1978. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Davis (King Hall) in 1981 and was awarded the Bureau of National Affairs Award for academic performance. He practiced law in San Francisco prior to being hired as Editor of Construction Litigation Reporter.

Table Of Contents

• 1. Sources of Law: Varied and Dynamic
• 2. The American Judicial System: A Forum for Dispute Resolution
• 3. Forms of Association: Organizing to Accomplish Objectives
• 4. The Agency Relationship: A Legal Concept Essential to Contract Making
• 5. Contracts and Their Formation: Connectors for Construction Participants
• 6. Remedies for Contract Breach: Emphasis on Flexibility
• 7. Losses, Conduct, and the Tort System: Principles and Trends
• 8. Introduction to the Construction Process: Ingredients for Disputes
• 9. Limits on Ownership: Land Use Controls
• 10. Professional Registration and Contractor Licensing: Evidence of Competence or Needless Entry Barrier?
• 11. Contracting for Design Services: Pitfalls and Advice
• 12. Professional Design Services: The Sensitive Issues
• 13. Compensation and Other Owner Obligations
• 14. Professional Liability: Process or Product?
• 15. Risk Management: A Variety of Techniques
• 16. Intellectual Property: Ideas, Copyrights, Patents, and Trade Secrets
• 17. Planning the Project: Compensation and Organization Variations
• 18. Competitive Bidding: Theory, Realities, and Legal Pitfalls
• 19. Sources of Construction Contract Rights and Duties: Contract Documents and Legal Rules
• 20. Contract Interpretation: Chronic Confusion
• 21. Changes: Complex Construction Centerpiece
• 22. Payment: Money Flow as Lifeline
• 23. Expectations and Disappointments: Some Performance Problems
• 24. Defects: Design, Execution, and Blurred Roles
• 25. Subsurface Problems: Predictable Uncertainty
• 26. Time: A Different but Important Dimension
• 27. Claims: By-Products of Construction Process
• 28. The Subcontracting Process: An "Achilles Heel"
• 29. The Design Professional as Judge: A Tradition Under Attack
• 30. Construction Disputes: Arbitration and Other Methods to Reduce Costs and Save Time
• 31. Indemnification and Other Forms of Shifting and Sharing Risks: Who Ultimately Pays?
• 32. Surety Bonds: Backstopping Contractors
• 33. Terminating a Construction Contract: Sometimes Necessary but Always Costly
• APPENDIX A - Standard Form of Agreement between Owner and Architect
• APPENDIX B - Standard Form of Agreement between Owner and Contractor
• APPENDIX C - General Conditions of the Contract for Construction
• APPENDIX D - Performance and Payment Bonds
• APPENDIX E - Standard Form of Agreement Between Contractor and Subcontractor
• APPENDIX F - Construction Industry Dispute Resolution Procedures
• APPENDIX G - Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Professional Services
• APPENDIX H - Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Contractor for Construction Contract
• APPENDIX I - Standard General Conditions of the Construction Contract