Spring 2022

NSPE Today
EJCDC Releases Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Study and Report Professional Services Document

The Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee has released the EJCDC® E-525, Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Study and Report Professional Services, 2022. NSPE is a sponsoring member of EJCDC, which has developed and updated fair and objective standard documents that represent the latest and best thinking in contractual relations for engineering design and construction projects since 1975. NSPE members receive a discounted rate for documents.

The E-525 document (2022) is for use in retaining an engineering firm to prepare a study and report—for example, an evaluation of a project’s feasibility, facility needs, treatment options, or citing challenges— without more comprehensive detailed design-phase or construction-phase engineering services. This agreement form will be especially useful to parties that, for various reasons, desire to proceed with project planning studies and funding pursuits prior to committing to a designer, or wish to engage different engineers for study and design services.

This document has been updated to generally follow the compact and functional form of E-520, Short Form of Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Professional Services (2020), while incorporating relevant content consistent with EJCDC’s flagship long-form professional services agreement, E-500, Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Professional Services (2020). In particular, the updated study and report phase scoping of E-525 Exhibit A now closely parallels the study-and-report content of the 2020 flagship longform.

As with other EJCDC standard documents, the new E-525 2022 edition is prefaced by an introductory “Guidelines for Use” section. This section contains additional guidance regarding whether the form is appropriate for use on the specific project under consideration, and how to contract for additional phases if the project moves forward from the study phase.

E-525 2022 has been reorganized by sections to more closely parallel the order of presentation used in E-500 2020. This change makes it easier to compare the two documents directly to determine which is most appropriate for the specific project, as well as easier supplementation of E-525 with select provisions from E-500 when such customization is deemed appropriate.

Access EJCDC documents at www.nspe.org/ejcdc.