Everything a PM needs to run contracting on a project: how a contract moves, who owns each step, the rules you can't break, the terms you'll defend, and where every document lives. You're not the attorney — your job is to feed the process cleanly, decide on time, and never let a project get ahead of its paper.
Purpose & How to Use
This is the single reference for how contracting works at Grace, written for project managers. Use it when you're starting a project, when a client sends their own contract, when you need to bring on a consultant, or any time you're unsure what happens next.
Golden Rules
If you remember nothing else, remember these six. They exist to protect the firm and the client.
Start Here
Three situations cover almost everything. Pick yours, then follow the PM spine below for the steps that are your responsibility.
When in doubt, submit the request on Milo and ask the Contract Team. It's always better to start the tracked process early than to guess.
The Process
Color tells you who owns the step (each carries an initials badge so it reads in grayscale too). Shape tells you the kind of step: rounded ends are start/finish, rectangles are actions, amber diamonds are decisions.
The Negotiation Cheat Sheet
When we review a client's contract, these are the six terms we care about most, reviewed carefully by the Contract Team. You don't redline them (the Contract Team does), but you should recognize them and be able to explain Grace's position to a client. Each card: what it is, why it matters, and the ask.
Pursuits
Pursuits have their own timing trap. The moment an RFQ involves a contract, loop in the Contract Team — what you do here can protect (or forfeit) our ability to negotiate later.
Have the Contract Team add a blanket reservation-of-rights statement to the submission, so we keep the right to negotiate the terms that matter after award.
Use the exact language at right →
If awarded, Grace reserves all rights to negotiate reasonable terms of any ensuing agreement, including but not limited to provisions addressing an applicable standard of care, limitations of liability, waiver of consequential damages, indemnity, Architect/Design Professional's work product and other standard contractual protections requested of an Architect/Design Professional and its insurer.
Bringing on Help
We hire consultants on our paper — never theirs. Get them into the system early and keep their insurance current, or payments stall.
Sent to Clint Skinner.
Filed on the Monday.com COI tracker for expiration tracking. Project Accounting confirms it before any payment — no current COI, no payment.
Invoices are passed to the Owner, who pays the consultant directly. The money doesn't flow through Grace.
The consultant (often Owner-provided) is retained by Grace, and the Owner reimburses Grace for the cost. A contract between Grace and the consultant — typically a C402 — must be in place before payment is released.
The Contract Team is compiling all existing and legacy subconsultant master service agreements (MSAs), plus a wish list of MSAs we'd like to have. The more MSAs in place, the faster we can issue task orders for future work instead of renegotiating from scratch. Once the master list is compiled, it will be published on Milo — check there before assuming a consultant needs a fresh agreement.
The Architect may assign any Service Order/Letter Addendum, or any portion thereof, to an affiliated entity without the prior written consent of the Owner/Consultant, provided that such affiliated entity agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement. The Architect shall notify the Owner/Consultant in writing of any such assignment. The Owner/Consultant agrees that its obligations under this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect as if such assignment had not occurred.
Who Does What
Same colors and initials as the flowchart. The Contract Team does the legal heavy lifting — but the process only moves at the speed of the PM. Read your own card first, then know your touchpoints with the rest of the team.
Directory
These systems carry the whole process. Know which door to use and you'll never lose a document or stall a payment.
If the client doesn't supply their own form, the Contract Team uses these AIA templates (with Grace's standard modifications already built in).
PMs are not signers. Nothing is signed without routing through the Contract Team first; only the people below may execute. Verify the current list with the Contract Team before relying on it.
Which Grace entity signs is a Contract Team decision, but it helps to know the order of preference. (Entries marked “Why?” are open items in the source to be confirmed.)
Plain Language
The terms you'll run into, in everyday words.