Overview
This section prescribes specific contract clauses for Architect-Engineer (A-E) services that hold firms accountable for designing within budget constraints and correcting design deficiencies. It establishes the regulatory framework for professional responsibility, work oversight, and mandatory registration of designers in federal projects.
Key Rules
- Design Within Funding Limitations: A-E firms must design projects so that construction costs do not exceed a specified dollar limit. If construction bids exceed this limit, the firm must redesign the project at no additional cost, unless the overrun is caused by events beyond their control (e.g., unanticipated material price spikes or Government delays).
- Correction of Errors: A-E contractors are strictly required to correct any errors, deficiencies, or inadequacies in their designs, drawings, or specifications at no cost to the Government.
- Mandatory Clauses:
- 52.236-22: Required in fixed-price A-E contracts to enforce funding limitations (with specific exceptions for standard structures or performance-priority projects).
- 52.236-23: Required in fixed-price A-E contracts to establish liability for design errors.
- 52.236-24: Mandatory in all A-E contracts to ensure Government oversight of the work.
- 52.236-25: Requires designers to be professionally registered, except in specific OCONUS locations or jurisdictions without registration requirements.
- Administrative Justification: If a Contracting Officer decides not to require a free redesign after a budget overrun or a design error, they must place a formal written justification in the contract file.
Practical Implications
- Risk Shifting: These rules shift the financial risk of inaccurate cost estimation and technical errors from the Government to the A-E firm, necessitating rigorous internal quality control by the contractor.
- Negotiation Transparency: Because firms are liable for cost overruns, Contracting Officers are encouraged to share the Government’s internal construction estimates and underlying data during negotiations to ensure the funding limit is realistic.