The American Institute of Architects provides the standard set of contracts, and associated documents, that are used throughout the construction industry in the United States. These documents have been developed over many years and many projects so they are widely accepted by architects, contractors, and owners. The documents provide agreements for various sizes and types of projects, as well as a number of different organizational structures between the various contracted parties. As the construction industry evolves, the AIA modifies the documents or creates new documents as needed.
The AIA provides a full list of current AIA construction documents. You can also purchase a license to use the documents at the official AIA Contracts website.
We also have an article about construction document sheet order and numbers.
AIA Contract Document Numbering
There are five main components that make up the AIA document number. Understanding how the number is put together will allow you to quickly identify or find a document. Each document has the following components: Series, Type, Delivery Method, Sequence, and the edition.
AIA Document Series
A - Agreements between the Owner and the Contractor
B - Agreements between the Owner and the Architect
C - Other Agreements
D - Miscellaneous Forms and Documents
E - Exhibits
F - Reserved for future use
G - Forms for Contract Administration and Project Management
AIA Document Type
1 - Prime Agreements
2 - Conditions or Scope of the Agreements
3 - Bonds or Qualifications
4 - Agreements between Prime and Sub-Contractors or Sub-Consultants
5 - Guides
6 - Reserved for future use
7 - Bid Documents and Construction Forms
8 - Forms or Documents Specific to the Architect
Project Delivery Method / Family
The AIA will sometimes group the documents by Family, which is a way of organizing them by the method of delivery being used on the project.
0 - Conventional Delivery
1 - Conventional Delivery
2 - Conventional Delivery
3 - Construction Manager as Adviser (CMa) or Construction Manager as Constructor (CMc)
4 - Design-Build
5 - Interior Only
6 - International
7 - Program Management
8 - Reserved for future use
9 - Integrated Project Delivery
Document Sequence Number
The sequence is a single digit between 1 and 9, and is used to identify documents that are similar.
AIA Document Edition
The edition is a four digit number that represents the year in which the document was released or most recently revised.
