Quantitative Assessment of the Architect’s Role under US Standard Construction Contracts: A Graph Theory Approach

Abstract

Evaluating the architect’s role in construction contracts is vital for improving the contractual relationship and preventing disputes. Standard contracts define the architect as an owner’s agent and/or a contract administrator. Studies often use qualitative and subjective evaluations to analyze the architect’s role. However, there is a lack of quantitative measures that objectively evaluate the architect’s capacities in construction contracts. This paper fills this knowledge gap. This study proposes a quantitative graph theory-based approach to analyze the architect’s roles under three standard forms of construction contracts in the US: (1) extracting and classifying party interactions; (2) modeling the interactions using network analysis; (3) conducting an expert-based survey to determine the importance of the interactions; and (4) developing the architect’s-capacity score (ACS) as an index that depicts the architect’s roles into one interpretable measure. The calculated ACS established the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at the upper end of the spectrum followed by the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee contract and then finally the ConsensusDocs with the lowest score. Such delineates the architect’s presence under the AIA contract as both an owner’s agent as well as a contract’s administrator. The EJCDC contract processes reflected the architect’s role to be more of an owner’s agent. Finally, the ConsensusDocs represented the lowest score due to the lack of the architect’s presence in most contract processes. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a methodological approach that mediates the subjectivity entailed in the evaluation of the architect’s role: one quantifiable measure. Similarly, Utilizing ACS enables project parties to customize the architect’s involvement in the construction phase through tailored contractual arrangements. This quantification of the architect’s role promotes a clearer understanding of the architect’s expectations, fostering enhanced communication and trust.