EJCDCE-520, the Short Form of the standard professional services agreement between Owner and Engineer, is intended primarily for use for professional services of limited scope and complexity. It is less comprehensive than most of EJCDC’s other professional services agreements. EJCDC developed E-520 to address the demand for a more compact version of the Owner-Engineer Agreement.

This document maintains its compact and functional form while incorporating relevant updates consistent with the content of EJCDC® E‑500, Agreement Between Owner and Engineer for Professional Services, 2020 Edition, EJCDC’s flagship longform professional services agreement.

As with other recently published EJCDC standard documents, the new Short Form is prefaced by an introductory “Guidelines for Use” section. This section is especially significant in the Short Form because it contains detailed guidance regarding whether the Short Form is appropriate for use on the specific project under consideration. This suitability question is frequently asked, and arriving at the correct answer is important. In many cases a more comprehensive contract form, such as E‑500, may be better suited to the project. The new detailed Guidelines for Use include an examination of project characteristics that make the use of the Short Form suitable; a list of examples of typical uses of the Short Form; and a table showing the substantial differences between the Short Form and E‑500.

The 2020 edition of EJCDC E‑520 has been re-organized by sections to more closely parallel the order of presentation used in E‑500 2020. This change makes the Short Form more user-friendly for those who are more accustomed to working with E‑500. It also assists users who want to compare directly the two documents to determine which is most appropriate for the specific project, and allows for easier supplementation of E‑520 with select provisions from E‑500, when such customization is deemed appropriate.

Other features of E‑520, 2020 edition include: 

• Adds more substance regarding Owner’s responsibilities
• Clarifies Engineer’s rights in response to non-payment by Owner
• Adds a standard provision for reimbursable expenses
• Updates the Termination section to match recent clarifications in E‑500
• Updates definitions and terminology to follow E‑500 and the EJCDC Construction Series
• Uses standardized 2020 EJCDC format for signature blocks