Every 10 years or so the American Institute of Architects (AIA) updates and revises its standard form family of construction documents and in 2007 the AIA modified the AIA A-201 contract to add the Initial Decision Maker (IDM) as a condition precedent to mediation.This laudable change marks an important shift, moving away from the architect as the resolver of disputes. Unfortunately, change comes slowly. The architect is the default IDM unless the parties affirmatively insert a name, other than the architect, in the contract to act as the IDM.Nonetheless, unlike prior AIA agreements, the AIA has opened the door to