January/February 2016

NSPE Today
Committee Releases Updated Engineering Documents

The Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee in October released four updated agreements that address the relationships between the engineer and specialty consultants. The newly updated documents include E-560, Standard Form of Agreement Between Engineer and Land Surveyor; E-564, Standard Form of Agreement Between Engineer and Geotechnical Engineer; E-568, Standard Form of Agreement Between Engineer and Architect; and E-530, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Geotechnical Engineer.

Documents E-560, E-564, and E-568 all follow the 2014 edition of E-570, Agreement Between Engineer & Consultant for Professional Services, as closely as the unique nature of each specialty service allows. The primary differences between these consultant agreements and E-570 are in the scope of professional services found in Exhibit A of the documents. Document E-530 likewise complies as closely as possible with the corresponding provisions of the 2014 edition of E-500, Standard Form Agreement Between Owner & Engineer for Professional Services.

As much as possible EJCDC maintains uniformity between its documents. The newly updated document definitions conform to the 2013 C Series definitions, except where there is a need to avoid confusion between the tiers (owner-engineer, engineer-consultant, and owner-contractor) of agreements or to recognize a special situation.

Updates also follow the E-500 use of the term “constructor” to refer to all those who participate in the construction at the site. This allows the engineer to clearly define and organize the consultants’ obligations relative to all constructors.

EJCDC included input from specialty practitioners in updating the documents, to identify new practices and technologies impacting each specific document. EJCDC also made changes in the structure of the document scoping to improve flexibility and functionality of each individual document. 

The Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee is made up of NSPE’s Professional Engineers in Private Practice, the American Council of Engineering Companies, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. EJCDC also involves the participation of more than 15 other professional engineering design, construction, owner, legal, and risk management organizations.

Learn more at www.nspe.org/ejcdc.