Summarise a construction contract’s clauses in plain language for the lawyer’s review
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- For each clause the lawyer marks, restate in short words what the clause says about notice, time, payment, and changes, and quote the clause number. Do not send the restatement to the client.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer rewrites anything the client will rely on. On a federal public building or work, 40 U.S.C. § 3133 gives a person who furnished labor or material, and who remains unpaid for 90 days after the last of that labor or material, a civil action on the payment bond, with a one-year outer time and a 90-day written notice where the claimant dealt only with a subcontractor. 31 U.S.C. § 3905 requires an agency construction contract to include a subcontract clause paying for satisfactory performance within 7 days out of amounts the agency paid the prime, plus an interest-penalty clause. Those statutes are not the private contract’s notice clause. Formal Opinion 512: the lawyer checks the restatement against the signed text. Model Rule 1.1 is the competence duty.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Do not begin AI assistance until the responsible lawyer has defined and confirmed its permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Trace every relied-on figure to its source, confirm dates and assumptions, and independently recalculate totals or derived amounts.
- Review operative clauses in the complete document, including definitions, cross-references, schedules and inconsistencies with the instructions.
- Verify the applicable jurisdiction and the version of each relevant law, rule or instrument in force at the material time.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.