Precision craftsmanship is a key to a successful project using modular construction, a building process in which prefabricated “modules”—anything from walls to entire apartments units—are produced in factory conditions before being delivered to a job site. In a commercial development using a significant number of these components, after a journey of perhaps thousands of miles from plant to site, each individual piece must align accurately with the others to ensure a successful end product. And, one can say, the same goes for the contracts drafted for these projects and the corresponding roles that the participants fulfill.

Those utilizing modular construction techniques occupy a unique position that doesn’t fit neatly within traditional building industry models. Without first adequately communicating responsibilities on the project and employing the proper contract language clearly defining those roles, a project owner, general contractor, subcontractor or supplier could be held responsible for complications that are not of their own making. At the very least, the project could be delayed, and legal costs may mount while fingers are pointed in multiple directions.