Contracts and changes

What this section covers

The contracts section of BuildColab covers everything between an awarded offer and the first payment application: proposing a contract, accepting or declining it, the signed contract and its history, change orders, extensions, partial acceptance, and the two ways to work with a party that does not use BuildColab.

A general contractor uses it in both directions. Upwards, it holds its own contract with its client (the investor). Downwards, it holds one contract with each subcontractor. A subcontractor sees only the contract on which it is the contractor. An investor sees its accepted budget, which works like a contract with itself.

Key ideas

• Two parties. Every contract has a client (the company that asked for the offer and pays, „възложител“) and a contractor (the company that does the work and gets paid, „изпълнител“). The screens call the client's list Contracts with contractors and the contractor's view Contract with client. It is one contract seen from two sides: a cost for the client, a budget for the contractor.
• A contract is tied to a BoQ version. The contract fixes the positions, quantities and unit prices of one version of the offer. Later edits to the offer do not change the contract.
• Five terms are required. Contract type, payment method, deadline, advance payment and warranty retention. See Contract proposals.
• Signed means locked. A signed contract cannot be edited directly. Both sides keep the same numbers, and every change goes through a change order that the other side accepts, or that you finalize yourself when you act for both sides. See Change orders and extensions.
• Versions. A contract starts as version 1. Every accepted or finalized change order adds 1. The history keeps every earlier version for review. See Contracts: signing, details and history.
• One contract per pair of companies per project. If you already have a signed contract with a company on a project, a new contract with it becomes an extension of the existing one, not a second contract.

The four ways a contract is made

Typical steps for the client

1. Award the offer request to one or more bidders. See Awarding (whole or by line items).
2. Make sure your own project is in the Execution (Изпълнение) phase: you have accepted your client's contract, turned your own offer into a contract, or (as an investor) accepted your budget. The contract buttons appear only then.
3. Open each winner's offer from the request panel with Review (Разгледай) and click Propose contract (Предложи договор). Fill in the five terms and click Send to partner (Изпрати към партньор). See Contract proposals.
4. Wait for the contractor to accept. You get a notification and an e-mail. The contract then appears under Contracts with contractors (Договори с изпълнители) as version 1. See Contracts: signing, details and history.
5. Link any contract positions that BuildColab could not match to your budget, so that the costs columns are complete. See Financial dashboard: committed, certified, margin.
6. When the scope must change, click Request update (Заяви актуализация) in Contract changes (Промени по договор), then accept or decline the change proposal the contractor sends. See Change orders and extensions.
7. Review and approve the contractor's payment applications. See Payment applications.

Typical steps for the contractor

1. After the client chooses your offer, you get the notification "{partnerName} sent you a contract proposal for {contractName}" and the project page shows You have a contract proposal (Имате предложение за договор). Your project phase becomes Contract proposal (Предложение за договор).
2. Click Review the contract (Прегледай договора), check the terms and the BoQ, and click Accept (Приеми) or Decline (Откажи). See Contract proposals.
3. After you accept, your project moves to Execution (Изпълнение) and the contract appears under Contract with client (Договор с възложител).
4. When the work changes, open Contract changes (Промени по договор), click Make a change (Направи промяна), edit the copy of the contract BoQ and click Propose change (Предложи промяна). See Change orders and extensions.
5. Bill your progress with payment applications against the signed contract. See Creating and submitting.

The overview screen

1. The Contracts with contractors (Договори с изпълнители) entry in the project sidebar opens the list of every contract on which your company is the client.
2. The header total Total value (Обща стойност) adds up all contracts in the list.
3. The Company (Компания) column names the contractor.
4. The Contract subject (Предмет на договора) column shows the contract name, its current Version {n} (Версия {n}), and the pill Change proposal (Предложение за промяна) or Change draft (Чернова на промяна) when a change order is open.
5. The Reports (Отчети) column shows how much has been billed in approved payment applications: "Reported {amount} · {percent}%".

What is legally binding

Pages in this section

• Contract proposals: the contract panel and its five terms, sending a proposal to a contractor on BuildColab, and how the contractor accepts or declines it.
• Contracts: signing, details and history: where signed contracts live, the contract page, statuses, versions, the history timeline and the e-mails and notifications.
• Change orders and extensions: update requests, change orders, accepting and declining changes, extensions of an existing contract, and superseded proposals.
• Partial acceptance: committing only part of a budget or change order to a new version, with the rest carried into a new draft.
• Self-managed subcontractors and self-contracts: working with a subcontractor that does not use BuildColab, and recording your own contract with a client that does not use it.

Common questions

Related

• Awarding (whole or by line items)
• Payment applications
• Financial dashboard: committed, certified, margin
• Contracting schedule and packages
• Permission reference