Asked by the Customer on 01-09-2015 09:39:57
Question posted in the Consumer Protection Law category relating to Western Cape
Question posted in the Consumer Protection Law category relating to Western Cape
My question is related to my previous question, which thanks to your answer, the transfer of the property was completed. I thank you.l
A year ago, my son and his wife engaged an Architect for the design of the house as follows:
1. The plans were to be completed up to and including submission and approval to the local council.
2. The fee was based on a construction budget of R1.4 million.
3. It was confirmed that I would act as Project Manager/Quantity Surveyor and that I would do regular design control estimates to ensure that the design stays within the R1.4 million budget.
Now however, a problem has arisen:
1. At the first and only meeting I attended, I pointed out to the Architect the impostance of sticking to the budget, and that I must be copied on all drafts to ensure that the budget is maintained.
2. Now however, the drawings are at Draft 8, and other than the initial draft, I was not forwarded copies of the ongoing design drafts.
3. The end result is that the current design is obviously way over budget.
4. Because of 3 above, I have advised the architect that before the plans can be submitted to council for approval,the plans must go out for tender to contractors, and any required revisions made.
5. The architect however is resisting this and want to submit the drawings to council and call for tenders simultaneously.
6. The problem is that if 5 above is implemented, then the architect has completed her scope of work according to the contract, and any revisions that are required to meet the budget, will be charged as extra work.
7. The only way to prevent 6 above from happening is to do the required changes before the drawings are submitted to council.
Thus the question is: Can my son legally insist that the plans go out to tender before they are submitted to council, and thereby ensure that he does not end up with a set of plans with a construction cost that is way over the budget. And most importantly, my son will simply not qualify for bond amount that will be required for the plans in their current state.
Thank you,
Isaac Pfaff.
A year ago, my son and his wife engaged an Architect for the design of the house as follows:
1. The plans were to be completed up to and including submission and approval to the local council.
2. The fee was based on a construction budget of R1.4 million.
3. It was confirmed that I would act as Project Manager/Quantity Surveyor and that I would do regular design control estimates to ensure that the design stays within the R1.4 million budget.
Now however, a problem has arisen:
1. At the first and only meeting I attended, I pointed out to the Architect the impostance of sticking to the budget, and that I must be copied on all drafts to ensure that the budget is maintained.
2. Now however, the drawings are at Draft 8, and other than the initial draft, I was not forwarded copies of the ongoing design drafts.
3. The end result is that the current design is obviously way over budget.
4. Because of 3 above, I have advised the architect that before the plans can be submitted to council for approval,the plans must go out for tender to contractors, and any required revisions made.
5. The architect however is resisting this and want to submit the drawings to council and call for tenders simultaneously.
6. The problem is that if 5 above is implemented, then the architect has completed her scope of work according to the contract, and any revisions that are required to meet the budget, will be charged as extra work.
7. The only way to prevent 6 above from happening is to do the required changes before the drawings are submitted to council.
Thus the question is: Can my son legally insist that the plans go out to tender before they are submitted to council, and thereby ensure that he does not end up with a set of plans with a construction cost that is way over the budget. And most importantly, my son will simply not qualify for bond amount that will be required for the plans in their current state.
Thank you,
Isaac Pfaff.
Further information relating to Question:
No there is no further information at this time.
Message from the Attorney
Posted by Att. Patrick on 01-09-2015 14:31:38
Hi there and thank you for your question,
The first thing to remember is that the architect have an obligation to act on your son's instructions. If your son says to the architect that she must not submit the plans for approval until such time as he is happy with the plans, then the architect mustn't do so.
I would ask your son to write an email/letter to the architect advising, in no uncertain terms, that she is NOT to submit the plans for approval until such time as he has given her the specific go-ahead to do so. He could put in the letter that the delay has been caused by the plans running over the specifically agreed upon budget, and that he considers the architect to be at fault. Explain that the revisions must be made to the plans prior to taking any further step.
So the answer to your question is YES, your son can legally insist that the plans go out to tender before they are submitted for approval to the council.
Your son can do whatever he wants to the plans, because until such time as the plans have been approved, he can't start construction.
While the issue about the bond is understood, it doesn't have any impact on this situation. Legally the architect must act under your son's instructions. If the architect doesn't like that (i.e. listening to the client) then the architect should remove herself from the project and forego the balance of fees.
If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.
Att. Patrick
Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.
The first thing to remember is that the architect have an obligation to act on your son's instructions. If your son says to the architect that she must not submit the plans for approval until such time as he is happy with the plans, then the architect mustn't do so.
I would ask your son to write an email/letter to the architect advising, in no uncertain terms, that she is NOT to submit the plans for approval until such time as he has given her the specific go-ahead to do so. He could put in the letter that the delay has been caused by the plans running over the specifically agreed upon budget, and that he considers the architect to be at fault. Explain that the revisions must be made to the plans prior to taking any further step.
So the answer to your question is YES, your son can legally insist that the plans go out to tender before they are submitted for approval to the council.
Your son can do whatever he wants to the plans, because until such time as the plans have been approved, he can't start construction.
While the issue about the bond is understood, it doesn't have any impact on this situation. Legally the architect must act under your son's instructions. If the architect doesn't like that (i.e. listening to the client) then the architect should remove herself from the project and forego the balance of fees.
If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.
Att. Patrick
Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.
Answer Accepted
This answer was accepted on 01-09-2015 14:34:39
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