Completion contract administration techniques typically used in California involve planning and executing contracts. As a company grows and performs more complex projects, they often seek out the help of a contract administrator. They act as a bridge between project owners and contractors or subcontractors and are responsible for getting everyone on the same page.
A contract administrator is expected to understand the needs, expectations, and wants of every party and draft a contract accordingly. To ensure clarity, precision, and unambiguity, contract administrators should clearly define the project scope before drafting a contract. Clear and precise contracts need fewer modifications and amendments.
Steps in the Contract Administration Process
• Understanding the Goal: Contract administrators define the scope of the project. They create a schedule, outline project deliverables, and choose the methods to measure performance. If you are looking for a project partner, your contract administrator will send out requests for proposals or a formal bid to potential partners.
• Contract Authoring: Once the parties to the contract are in agreement on the goals of the project, they establish the terms and conditions. A legal team writes a contract that outlines the agreement between the parties.
• Negotiation: The parties redline the contract. Before signing, each party removes or modifies clauses and terms of the contract that are unacceptable to them.
• Execution: Once all parties sign the contract, it becomes legally enforceable. By signing a contract, the parties involved agree to be bound by all terms and conditions. Once the agreement comes into effect and the project starts, the contract administrator analyzes contract data at regular intervals to evaluate performance.
Responsibilities of a Contract Administrator
A contract administrator is entrusted with the responsibility of:
• Managing contract disputes.
• Providing regular progress updates to all the parties involved.
• Keeping records of site visits and inspections and correspondences.
• Communicating expectations to each party.
• Setting quality standards.
• Ensuring that defects, if any, are remedied within the stipulated time frame.
Contract Administration Best Practices
• The contract administrator should make the effort to familiarize themselves with the project.
• They should be able to set clear expectations and ensure that deliverables are within the scope of the project. Project scope should be defined upfront in order to prevent scope creep.
• Contract administrators should make sure plans include a detailed timeline.
• It is important to ensure that all parties involved in the administration process know important financial details such as payment intervals and total contract value.
• Contract administrators should identify, evaluate and plan for potential risks.
The Swaney Corporation-Crowe Construction, inc. offers a wide range of contract administration services to companies throughout California. Our contract administrators have years of experience developing bulletproof plans to make sure every contract is performed successfully. To learn more, call (707) 665-9668.