EJCDC E-581: Agreement Between Owner, Design Engineer, and Peer Reviewers for Peer Review of Design (2024)

EJCDC® E-581, Agreement Between Owner, Design Engineer, and Peer Reviewers for Peer Review of Design is intended for the engagement of one or more peer reviewers to review and comment on the Engineer’s design. Such peer reviews are sometimes required by lenders, grant agencies, and project owners as a means of assuring the adequacy of the design and are useful to Owner and Engineer in identifying design elements that need further analysis, revision, or improvement prior to finalization of the design and the ensuing construction.

EJCDC® E-581, Agreement Between Owner, Design Engineer, and Peer Reviewers for Peer Review of Design, 2024 Edition is a comprehensive update of the EJCDC professional services agreement for peer review but remains consistent with the overall content, risk allocation, and philosophical approach of the document’s prior version. User guidance and formats have been updated for ease of use and consistency with EJCDC’s other professional services agreements.

Notably, in recognition that peer reviews are increasingly being required by a project’s regulatory or funding authority, E-581 2024 has new language to address more completely the roles of the parties regarding commissioning authority requirements.   To reduce the potential for questions and conflicts regarding the scope of the peer review, provision is now made for attaching the commissioning authority requirements directly to E-581 as an Owner or authority furnished exhibit (F).

E‑581 2024, as updated, retains indemnification by Owner in favor of the Peer Reviewer(s), as well as language citing some of the special factors that justify the inclusion of this indemnification. Guidance is added to acknowledge that some jurisdictions do not allow public owners to contractually indemnify other parties and may need to remove or revise the indemnification clause.  In lieu of or in addition to indemnification, guidance is added citing other EJCDC risk allocation resources.

Updated language for notices and insurance provisions are included, following the practice of other current EJCDC documents, as applicable to a peer review.  Insurance now includes a requirement to list Peer Reviewer(s) as additional insureds on the Owner’s and Design Engineer’s commercial general liability policies.