Architectural Flashing Supply
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Project lifecycle and contract documents · Lesson 2 of 4

Project lifecycle and contract documents: materials, standards and design constraints

What outranks what when documents disagree, how submittals are scheduled, reviewed and returned, what AFS can make, and the payment and Texas lien clocks that attach to fabricated material.

You will be able to: Apply a stated order of precedence, explain how submittals are governed and reviewed, compare what an owner and the AFS limits allow, and describe the payment and notice clocks that attach to a fabricated item without treating one owner's wording as universal.

16 min · 12 slides · 13 questions

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Slide 1 of 12

Order of precedence is a clause

FAR 52.236-21 says that if drawings and specifications differ, the specifications govern.

UT System 6.1.4 ranks change orders, addenda and written amendments first, then the contract, then drawings, then specifications, then other documents.

But specifications control over drawings as to quality of materials and installation.

Two owners, two answers: find the project's own clause.

Reading precedenceTop, a wrong approach marked with a red X: assume specifications always win. Next, the right approach marked with a green check: find the project's own order-of-precedence clause first. Below, two clause cards. The federal clause FAR 52.236-21: specifications govern, and work shown in only one document counts as shown in both. The UT System general conditions 6.1.4: change orders and addenda rank highest, then the contract, then drawings, then specifications, with specifications controlling quality and installation, and the latest date controlling among the same rank. A banner reads two owners, two answers.Reading precedenceAssume specifications alwayswin.Find the project's ownorder-of-precedence clausefirst.Federal clause FAR 52.236-21Specifications govern.Work shown in only one document counts asshown in both.UT System general conditions 6.1.4Change orders and addendafirstThe contractsecondDrawingsthirdSpecificationsfourthSpecifications control quality andinstallation. Same rank: the latest date.Two owners, two answers.FederalUT System (Texas)

A wrong approach with a red X, assume specifications always win, a right approach with a green check, find the project's own order-of-precedence clause first, then two clause cards: the federal clause in which specifications govern, and the UT System ranking of change orders and addenda, the contract, drawings and specifications.

Two real clauses, two different answers. The cards show whose clause each is; neither is a rule for every contract.

Sources

Glossary

Order of precedence
A contract clause that says which document controls when documents disagree. It differs from contract to contract: FAR 52.236-21 puts specifications first, while UT System 6.1.4 ranks drawings above specifications except for quality of materials and installation.
Submittal register
In the UT System general conditions, a schedule organized by specification section that lists every item to be furnished for review and approval, due within 21 days of the Notice to Proceed.
Approved as noted
One of the four notations the VA uses on a returned submittal: the contractor may proceed provided it incorporates the noted comments and makes the noted corrections. Other owners use other notations.
Business day versus calendar day
UT System defines a day as a calendar day unless stated otherwise, while the VA submittal section counts review periods in business days. The same number of days therefore lasts longer under the VA.
Specially fabricated material
In the Texas lien notice and affidavit deadlines, material made specially for a project: if it is not yet delivered, the notice counts from the month it would normally have been delivered, and the affidavit from the later of that month and the last month material was provided.