Negotiating the agreement

Owner-Architect agreements spell out what you and your architect bring to the professional relationship and what you can expect from it.

The formal agreement between you and your architect is an opportunity to assure that you both envision the same project, requirements, and expectations. Before committing these requirements and expectations to paper, use the five steps presented below to identify any shop that may have been missed.

*Establish project requirements*
Write down your project requirements as either a short statement or a
very detailed compilation. Address these points:

* Project scope: What is to be designed and built?
* Project site: Where will (might) it be built?
* Levels of design quality and amenity
* Role of the project (in the owner's life, business, community, etc.)
* Schedule requirements or constraints
* Target date for completion
* Budget estimate and sources of financing
* Codes, regulations, and required design reviews.

*Describe project tasks and assign responsibility for each one*
Owner and architect should identify the predesign, design, construction, and post-construction tasks that must be undertaken to achieve project objectives. The chart on pages eight and nine, taken from AIA Document B163, represents the potential scope of designated services and provides a useful starting point for this discussion. Both parties should then identify the services required for the project and who will be responsible for each.

Advice: To help produce a complete schedule, include all necessary tasks, even if they will be done by others (say, a regulatory agency's review).

*Develop a First-Cut Schedule*
Place the tasks and responsibilities on a time line, estimating duration for each task. Identify the tasks that if delayed for any reason will delay completion of the project. Compare the time line with the target
completion date and adjust one or both as appropriate.

Advice: The owner, architect, and other key team members who must live with the project schedule should be involved in its development.

*Take a Critical Look at the Results*
Is the schedule reasonable, particularly given the project's requirements and budget? Have you allowed yourself enough time to review the architect's submissions, receive regulatory agency approvals, seek your own recommendations and approvals, and make your decisions? Many project schedules don't provide enough time for decision making.

*Use This Planning Work as a Basis for Establishing the Architect's Compensation*
Ask the architect to provide you with a compensation proposal that is based on the tasks and schedule outlined above.

*The Owner-Architect Agreement*
If you've done your homework, the written agreement should follow without difficulty. Although a certain amount of negotiation is inevitable, you and the architect should be of common mind on the key
issues of project scope, services, responsibilities, schedule, construction budget, and architect compensation. Some advice on this subject:

/Use a written contract. / No handshake or letter agreement is firm enough to cover thoroughly all the roles, responsibilities, and obligations the owner and architect must carry out.

/Use AIA documents. / These standard forms of agreement, first developed in the 1880s, have been carefully reviewed, court-tested, and modified over many years. Widely used by and accepted in the construction industry, they present a current consensus among organizations representing owners, lawyers, contractors, engineers, and architects. They are coordinated with one another to work as a complete set. For example, the architect-consultant agreement serves as the subcontract for the owner-architect agreement, and the owner-contractor agreement, usually negotiated later, extends the architect's services into the construction phase. These documents are readily available from most local AIA chapters or by calling 800-365-ARCH(2724). If you want to modify the AIA forms, do so with great care. Since these documents form a cohesive whole, even simple revisions in one agreement may cause
complications in another.

/Do not expect your architect to warrant or guarantee results. / As a provider of a professional service, an architect can only be required to perform to a professional standard. Perfection would be nice, but it is unrealistic and uninsurable. Courts recognize this, and so too must responsible clients.

/Consult both your legal and insurance counsel before signing these agreements./ to help protect you against work that's not according to plan.

 

Please feel free to get in touch with us for further concerns regarding the above topics or any queries that you may have.