The Subtopics within the Contractors—Construction Topic only provide incremental industry-specific guidance for the entities defined in this Scope Section, or as further defined in the Scope Sections of the individual Subtopics. Entities within the scope of this Topic shall also comply with the applicable standards not included in this Topic.
The Contractor Accounting—Construction Contractors Topic provides guidance for entities that perform construction-type contracts.
Although the construction industry is difficult to define because of its diversity, certain characteristics are common to entities in the industry. The most basic characteristic is that work is performed under contractual arrangements with customers. A contractor, regardless of the type of construction activity or the type of contractor, typically enters into an agreement with a customer to build or to make improvements on a tangible property to the customer's specification. The contract with the customer specifies the work to be performed, specifies the basis of determining the amount and terms of payment of the contract price, and generally requires total performance before the contractor's obligation is discharged. Unlike the work of many manufacturers, the construction activities of a contractor are usually performed at job sites owned by customers rather than at a central place of business, and each contract usually involves the production of a unique property rather than repetitive production of identical products.