Contract Administration
10% of the examContract Administration is 10% of the exam and covers the paper machinery that keeps a project defensible: RFIs, submittals, change management, notice, claims, and closeout. The exam's recurring theme is discipline — the contract's procedures exist to be followed, and skipping them has consequences.
Change management questions hinge on the difference between a change order (agreed and signed by all parties) and a construction change directive (owner-directed; the contractor proceeds while price and time get resolved). Claims questions hinge on notice: prompt written notice per the contract, before disturbed conditions are altered in the case of differing site conditions, or the claim may be waived entirely.
Procurement appears too: qualifications-based selection where price enters only after ranking, bonds under the Miller Act on federal work, and the surety relationships behind bid, performance, and payment bonds. Dispute resolution escalates from negotiation through mediation (non-binding) to arbitration (typically binding) before litigation.
Key concepts
- RFIs clarify documents; submittals verify conformance before fabrication
- Change order vs. construction change directive
- Notice provisions — the gateway to every claim
- Differing site conditions: Type I (differs from documents) vs. Type II (unusual for the area)
- Bonds: bid, performance, payment; Miller Act threshold on federal work
- Dispute ladder: negotiation → mediation → arbitration → litigation
Exam tips
- When a scenario asks what the CM should do first, the answer is almost always the contractual step: give notice, document, follow the procedure
- Acceptance of final payment generally waives unreserved claims
- Constructive acceleration has three elements: entitlement, denial, and forced acceleration spending
63 practice questions in this domain
5 are in the free practice test; the rest unlock with premium.