Create Prime Contracts
Background
A Prime Contract is a legal agreement between contracted parties. In a single, two-party contract, the party financing the construction project is called the client, owner, or principal. The party being paid to ensure completion of work is called the general, primary, or main contractor. In Procore, you can either create a single contract for a single construction project or--if it is a larger contract or if you have multiple funding sources or clients--you might choose to divide the scope of work for a single project into multiple agreements.
If your company has purchased Procore to manage your construction projects, you can create one (1) or more contracts for each new construction project.
Examples
When to create a single prime contract
Most customers who manage their construction projects in Procore create a single contract for a single project. For example, if you are a general contractor, creating a single contract is the simplest way to manage a construction project when it has a single project owner and a single funding source. If you are an owner/developer or an internal general contractor with an upstream approval requirement, you might choose to create a single prime contract to handle the upstream contract and invoices.
When to create multiple prime contracts
If a project has multiple owners, clients, funding sources, and/or project delivery methods, you can also choose to create multiple contracts for a single project. If you choose to create multiple contracts in a single Procore project, there are some limitations. For details, see Are there any system limitations when projects have multiple prime contracts? Reasons to create multiple contracts include:
Multiple Clients and Funding Sources. A project can have multiple funding sources or multiple clients. For example, a specialty contractor might choose to create a separate prime contract for each client. Or your construction company might have been contracted to complete work on a project with more than one funding stream, such as a private donor, a public grant, a public authority, bonds, grants, loans, or a combination of all these examples. See Configure Advanced Settings: Prime Contracts.
Multiple Stages. A project can be divided into stages. For example, you might require separate contracts for pre-construction, course of construction, and aftercare/maintenance.
Multiple Phases. A project can be portioned into phases. For example, you might require separate contracts for the foundation, plumbing, HVAC, and so on.
Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Contracts. A project can be fast-tracked or a phased GMP job. For example, you might require multiple contracts for each established scope-of-work package.
Construction Manager as Advisor (CMa) Delivery Methods. A general contractor operating as a CMa might need to manage multiple contracts between an owner and various contractors.
After you create an agreement, you can then update its Schedule of Values (SOV). For details, see Update the Schedule of Values on a Prime Contract.
Tip
Is the Schedule of Values on the contract similar to the line items on the project's budget? If so, Procore recommends creating the project's budget before the contract. To eliminate repetitive data entry, you can use the Prime Contracts tool's import feature to Create the Prime Contract Schedule of Values from the Project Budget.
