ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which standard architectural contracts are the cause of unnecessarily toxic relations between owners, architects, and contractors. The history of the standard AIA contract is examined with two underlying questions: why is there no contract between the architect and the contractor (only between the owner/architect and the owner/contractor) and where did the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) contract come from, given its radical realignment of the power and much more relations between these three players? The history reveals the change in dynamics between the three players that the standard contracts have not caught up with and argues for the advantages of the still too-marginalized IPD contract.
