Terms and Conditions

Unless otherwise agreed, these terms of business apply to any future instructions from you, your continued instructions will amount to your acceptance of these terms and conditions of business.

Any fee quotation provided will remain open for a period of 60 days, after which we reserve the right to amend them to reflect current market conditions.

These are our General Company Terms and Conditions and depending on what is quoted in your fee proposal, not every term will apply to you. Should you be invoiced by one of our subsidiary companies these terms and conditions will apply unless stated otherwise.

Architects Services:

• The architect cannot guarantee that any programme will be fully adhered to where external forces, consultants, Local Authority, Regulatory Bodies, Specialists, Manufactures etc are required to feed into this programme.
• The Architects cannot guarantee that any target or budget cost, or the timetable will be met, particularly where approvals from other parties, such as planning permission, building regulation approval, listed building and conservation consent are required, nor the performance, work or the product of third parties.
• Although the Architect will try their best for successful approval, we cannot guarantee that, Planning, Listed Building, Conservation Area/Approval will be achieved on any project
• There are occasions where a clients specific requirements are at variance with planning or design policy within a particular area, and subsequent amendments have been necessary following the submission of the scheme to the Local authority. Amendments within the same application are at no further cost.
• Should another application be required to be submitted this will be at a further cost and will be quoted to the Client at the time.
• We would draw your attention to the fact that local authorities now request an increasing amount of supporting documents to be submitted with Planning Applications ,The Architect cannot therefore guarantee that all supporting documents or information requirements will be know at the time of submission.
• The Architect will liaise with other consultants to assist in obtaining supporting documentation, but cannot be held responsible for the time and extent that gathering such information may entail.

Clients Responsibilities:

• Advise the Architect of the requirements and of any subsequent changes required.
• Give Decisions and all necessary instructions, consents or approvals necessary for the performance of services quoted in the fee proposal
• Third party fees are at the responsibility of the Client and required to adhere the payment agreement with the necessary third party. We will advise you of the fee at the appropriate stage of the work
• Any delay in payment of fees can and is likely to result in a delay to the flow of information on projects. We reserve the right not to move onto a subsequent stage of a project where fees for previous work stages are outstanding.

Copyright and License:

• The Architect owns the copyright in the drawings and documents (including material in electronic format) produced in performing the services.
• The client shall have a license to copy and use the drawings only for purposed related to this project providing that all fees and/or other amounts due are paid in full.
• The Client will only have a license to use drawings for their intended purpose such as drawings prepared for a planning application would only be valid for this purpose and should not be used for construction.
• Drawings produced for one client are not transferable to another client.
• The Architect owns all CAD files and these will not be released to the client.

Fees:

• The client shall pay the Architects accounts, including any additional fees, expenses, disbursements or VAT in accordance with payment terms.
• Payment shall become due on submission of the invoice thereafter and the final date for payment shall be 7 days.
• Payment structure to be agreed with the Client
• Any quote under £1,000 to be paid in full.
• We will not submit any planning application until the fee for preparation and advice of planning submission has been paid in full.
• We will not submit applications for building regulation approval until the fee for all stages up to building regulation drawings are to be paid in full
• We will not release any reports or other schedules, specifications or documents on any project until the relevant dee associated with the production of the report is paid in full.
• Our hourly rates, in the occasional event of additional services: (if further services were needed, these would be discussed with you before they are implemented or charged.)
  • Director: £95 per hour
  • Architects, Architectural Technologists: £85 per hour
  • Structural Engineers: £95 per hour
  • Architectural Assistants: £80 per hour
• If the invoice is not paid within the period stated on the invoice 14 days from delivery date. Interest shall be added to all amounts remaining unpaid. Any overdue payment interest will be charged from the day after the last day of the agreed payment date. Our interest rate is 8% plus the Bank of England base rate.
• We would also reserve the right to place any debt into the hands of a debt recovery agency following failure to pay within the specified period.
• The Architect reserves the right not to continue with Services for the next stage of the project until the fee for the previous stage of the project has been paid by the Client. The Architect also reserves the right not to proceed with work on a separate project, where the fees/or proportion of same for another project with the same Client remain unpaid.
• Any disbursements made on your behalf, such as payments to the local authority for planning submissions or Building Regulations submission/inspection fees, Should we pay these on your behalf, they will be charged at net cost plus a handling charge of 5%;

Suspending or ending the Agreement:

• The Client or the Architect can suspend or end performance of any or all of the Services by giving at least 7 days’ written notice of the intention and stating the reason for doing so.
• If the reason for the notice arises from a default and the recipient does not remedy the matter, the agreement will end on expiry of the notice period.
• In the event of a dispute or difference arising under this Appointment, this should be in writing.
• We hope we shall be able to settle the matter by negotiation or mediation. Alternatively, either of us can start court proceedings to settle the dispute at any time. The parties shall attempt in good faith to settle any dispute of mediation.

Complaints:

• If any issues arise concerning the provision of the services that the client is not able to resolve with their day-to-day contact at F line, the Client should refer the matter in writing to the company director. A copy of our complaints procedure is available on written request.