Precedence Clauses

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A precedence clause is a contract provision that states the order of precedence within the Contract Documents to be followed in case of a conflict between any of the various documents.

The AIA documents do not contain precedence clauses between the drawings and the specifications, instead noting that conflicts between these documents shall be referred to the Architect for interpretation.  This posture is presumably to allow the Architect the widest range of interpretation in case of a conflict.

The CSI recommends following this posture and not publishing precedence between the various documents.

Almost every government and third party construction contract provider does include a precedence clause, so for any practitioner working with contract documents from any source other than the AIA, it is very important to determine if your Contract Documents include a precedence clause, and if yes, what that precedence actually is.

Most contract clauses are written by attorneys.  Few attorneys can draw, or read drawings, but all attorneys can write, and so they write things with which they will be comfortable.  As a consequence, most, if not all, precedence clauses give precedence to the written contract documents over the graphic, putting specifications interpretations ahead of the drawing notes.

So, in case of a discrepancy between the drawing and the specification, the complex drawing annotation is going to be overidden by the written specifications, even if the specifications are not correct.

For projects with precedence clauses in the General or Supplementary Conditions, simple direct drawing annotations carefully coordinated with the terms used in the Project Manual will provide the clearest connection between the graphic and written Construction Documents.

Actually, this is true for all projects, not just those with precedence clauses.

Always take care to determine if your Contract Documents include a precedence clause.