Review of Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process, 7th Ed., by Justin Sweet and Marc M. Schneier: 2004, Thomson Learning, Toronto, Canada, 732 pp., ISBN: 0-534-46467-X, Price: U.S. $130.95.

When asked to review this book, I considered it a daunting task, akin to reviewing a new edition of the Bible. Since first published some 34 years ago, this book has become the “gold standard” work in the field. It is widely used not only as primarily intended, as a text for engineering and architecture students, but as a reference for practicing designers and attorneys. It is “one-stop shopping,” containing text, excerpts of court decisions, extensive footnotes of case citations, standard contract forms of the American Institute of Architects and the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee, Rules of the American Arbitration Association and class discussion questions, all in a single volume of roughly 1,000 pages. In the authors’ words, it is “clear, concise, jargon-free text that probes beneath the surface of legal rules to uncover why these rules developed as they did, outline arguments for and against these rules and examine how they work in practice.”

I could not agree more; it is a beautifully written book that is understandable by designers and lawyers, students and practitioners, arbitrators and judges. It is national in scope, rather than focusing on the law of a single state. It explains the rules followed by the majority of states and the minority rules and national trends in ever changing state and federal court decisions.

If you already have the 1999 sixth edition, why purchase the seventh edition? The answer is that much has changed and developed in the field of construction law in the past 5 years.

These are but a few of the changes and additions found in the seventh edition that should compel its acquisition.

It is appropriate to question the utility of a national text, such as Sweet and Schneier’s, as compared with a text that deals with the law of only a single state. Being the author of such a single-state text, I have had the opportunity to reflect on this subject, and I am of the opinion that there is a core construction law that transcends the law of any given jurisdiction. Sweet and Schneier have keen analytic eyes searching for this core, and they offer piercing insights that are “must reading” for anyone seeking to gain a meaningful understanding of the subject. It is as important to understand not only where the law is today but to understand the direction in which the law is going. Changes in the law reflect changing public mores and reflect the “ceaseless struggle between private autonomy (freedom of contract) and judicial control of what can be over-reaching and abuse of contract power.” Sweet and Schneier, from their national vantage point, offer perspectives that are wider and deeper than those gained from an examination of the law of any single state.

Finally, today, the designers and contractors whose geographic range is limited to a single jurisdiction are decreasing. Like it or not, we are being forced to expand our focus beyond state and even national borders. This, too, necessitates the inclusion of Sweet and Schneier’s book in the libraries of all who engage in the construction process. The book is a pleasure to read and I am pleased to recommend it highly.