A101 Owner-Contractor Agreement (Stipulated Sum)

AIA Document A101-2017, the standard owner-contractor agreement for stipulated sum (fixed-price) construction. Covers the contract structure, key articles on contract sum, payment provisions, retainage, insurance and bonds, and how A101 pairs with A201 General Conditions. Compares A101 against A102 (GMP) and A103 (cost-plus without GMP), and addresses change orders, liquidated damages, and risk allocation under a fixed-price delivery model.

ARE · Practice Management

Overview

When an owner and contractor shake hands on a construction project with a single, agreed-upon price, AIA Document A101-2017 is the standard form that puts that deal in writing. It's the workhorse of design-bid-build delivery, and the most widely used owner-contractor agreement in the AIA system.

A101 operates on a simple premise: the contractor agrees to complete the work described in the contract documents for a fixed dollar amount, called the stipulated sum. The owner knows the total price before construction begins. The contractor carries the risk of cost overruns. That clarity makes it the default choice for competitively bid projects where the scope is well defined.

But A101 never works alone. It adopts AIA Document A201-2017, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction, by reference. A201 fills in the rights, responsibilities, and procedures that A101 doesn't spell out. Together, they form a complete contractual framework. A101 also requires an Exhibit A for insurance and bonds, a critical companion that defines the risk-transfer mechanisms protecting both parties.

For the ARE, you need to know what A101 covers, what it delegates to A201, how it differs from A102 (cost-plus with GMP) and A103 (cost-plus without GMP), and how payment provisions, retainage, and change orders work within this fixed-price structure.

Essential

AIA Document A101-2017 is the standard form of agreement between owner and contractor where payment is based on a stipulated sum. That means one fixed price for all the work described in the contract documents. No cost tracking. No open books. The contractor prices the job, bids it, builds it, and gets paid the agreed amount. This document belongs to the Conventional (A201) family, the most commonly used family of AIA contract documents. That family is built around design-bid-build delivery: the owner hires an architect, the architect produces construction documents, those documents go out for competitive bids, and the winning contractor executes the work under the A101 agreement. ## How A101 Connects to A201 A101 is intentionally lean. It covers the deal-specific terms: project identification, contract sum, payment schedule, insurance requirements, and the date of commencement and substantial completion.

Professional

Consider a mid-size architecture firm hired by a school district for a new elementary school. The project uses design-bid-build delivery with competitive bidding. The contractor submits the low bid at $14.2 million, and the owner executes an A101 agreement for that stipulated sum. The architect's B101 references A201 as the general conditions. Three months into construction, the district decides to add a community room that wasn't in the original program. How does the contract handle this? The contractor prices the additional scope and submits a change order proposal. The architect reviews the pricing, negotiates with both parties, and the three parties sign a change order increasing the contract sum by $380,000 to $14.58 million. The contract time extends by six weeks. Every dollar of that adjustment is documented because under A101, the contract sum only changes through formal change orders. Now picture a different scenario.

TLDR

A101-2017 is the standard AIA owner-contractor agreement for a stipulated sum (fixed price). The contractor agrees to a single price for all work.
A101 always pairs with A201-2017 (General Conditions). A101 covers the deal terms; A201 covers procedures, roles, and dispute resolution.
Exhibit A (Insurance and Bonds) is a required companion. Not optional.
A101 = fixed price, contractor bears cost risk. A102 = cost-plus with GMP. A103 = cost-plus without GMP, owner bears all cost risk.
Allowances are placeholder amounts for unspecified items. Alternates are priced scope options the owner accepts or rejects before signing.
Retainage (typically 5-10%) is withheld from progress payments until substantial completion. State law governs specifics.
Liquidated damages are the owner's sole remedy for delay. Set too high and a court may void them as penalties.
Change orders are the only way to modify the contract sum under A101. All three parties sign.
A201 modifications by the owner and contractor don't affect the architect's B101 duties unless B101 is separately amended.
Use A101 for well-defined scope with competitive bidding. That's its sweet spot.

ELI5

Think of hiring a contractor to build a house. You agree on a price before they start. That price doesn't change unless you both agree to add or remove something. That's what a stipulated sum contract is. AIA Document A101 is the official form for this kind of deal in commercial construction. It's like a fill-in-the-blank agreement that says: here's the project, here's the price, here's when it needs to be done, and here are the rules for getting paid. But A101 doesn't work alone. It has a partner document called A201, which is like the rulebook. A101 says "here's the deal." A201 says "here's how we handle problems, paperwork, and payments while we build." Why does the contractor agree to a fixed price? Because the plans are done and the scope is clear. The contractor studies the drawings, calculates their costs, adds profit, and submits a bid.

AREPractice Management

A101 Owner-Contractor Agreement (Stipulated Sum)

2 min read208 words

The Fixed-Price Construction Contract: AIA A101

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