Summary: The AIA announced on December 15 the release of AIA Contract Documents software, Version 3, an update to its successful software application widely used in the design and construction industry. The revised software—based on responses to an extensive series of user interviews across the nation, widespread analysis of usage data, and comments from two separate beta trials—features a redesigned look to make it even more intuitive and simpler to use.

The updated software is now available to new and existing customers on the AIA Contract Documents Web site. The update is provided at no additional cost to existing customers.

“The software upgrade responds to the ongoing needs of design and construction industry professionals,” says General Manager, AIA Contract Documents James A. Gatsch, FAIA. “By continually soliciting feedback from our users, and then responding to that feedback in a timely way, we are able to offer the design and construction industry the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art contract solution available.”

The Software, Version 3:
Version 3, based on the widely accepted Microsoft Word platform, lets users create, share, and manage contract documents with ease. This updated software offers enhanced functionality in how documents are drafted, edited, shared, and finalized. New enhancements to Version 3 include:

• A home page that serves as a launch pad for beginning a new project, creating a document within an existing project, or accessing software resources and licensing information
• New design that uses a five-tab layout with quick access to project data, templates, contacts, and all help features
• New and powerful tools to group and sort dialogs and documents for easy access
• A simplified approach to creating, editing, and deleting project team members
• The option to skip document-specific dialogs when generating a draft document
• An integrated Help feature that accesses a growing list of document and software resources
• New formatting and spell-checking features in G form documents
• An enhanced variance checker that makes the notations in variance checked documents easier to read
• Ability to create a project manual with AIA Contract Documents.