The RIBA are aware of the difficulty experienced by practitioners in securing agreement from Clients to the industry standard documentation. Very often on commercial projects, the Client will present its own bespoke suite of Appointment and warranty/novation documentation, and will be reluctant to accept terms put together by the professional institute of what they are likely to regard as the most important consultant. Meanwhile, on domestic projects, whilst the take-up of the standard RIBA documentation appears to be greater, consumer protection legislation must be taken into account and the Architect will need to be able to demonstrate that its standard terms have been fully explained and properly understood, and key clauses brought to the domestic Client's particular attention. For the Standard documentation to have a better chance of being accepted it needs to demonstrate that it caters for Client's key concerns, but in a manner that is going to protect the Architect sensibly.

RIBA also recognise that commercial requirements are evolving all the time, in response to such matters as case law, well-publicised occurrences and economic conditions. The widely-publicised High Court decision in Freeborn & Goldie v Dan Marcal Architects, relating to the "wonky industrial design" of a home cinema involving a substantial finding against the architect and throwing into focus the need for accurate detailed records, and the 2017 Grenfell tragedy, with its attendant impact on interpretation of Building Regulations, are cases in point. The standard documentation therefore needs to be kept under frequent review and to be responsive to the changing needs of the industry and changes in legislation. .

This seminar will look at how the Professional Services Contracts seeks to continue to provide architects with sensible protections and limitations on responsibility and liability whilst at the same time providing clarity of roles and services, to commend its use to the Client. As with previous incarnations of the standard document, the present suite of Professional Services Contracts deal with such matters as the Client's responsibilities and the appointment of other consultants; the entering into of other agreements such as novations or warranties and generally the fair delineation of responsibility amongst the Construction Team. The new provisions seek to clarify the correct Construction Cost figure upon which to apply a percentage fee at various times, in an effort to reduce the incidents of fee disputes. Such disputes can frequently lead to counterclaims, which are often highly emotive -particularly in domestic projects, where the parties may be ill-inclined to compromise and where, anyway, scope for manoeuvre may be limited.

Speaker: Mark Klimt, DWF Law LLP

Mark joined Fishburn Boxer as a trainee in 1982 and has been a Partner since 1989, He has been involved in the Construction Industry- primarily representing Architects- for more than thirty years, both defending them against claims on behalf of Insurers and advising them on contractual and other liabilities. The practice of Fishburn Boxer merged with DWF in February 2013.

Mark has defended Consultants in relation to Projects of all sizes and all descriptions, from modest domestic refurbishments, through to higher end refurbishments, and on through all descriptions of commercial projects including airports, schools, hotels, iconic performance venues and railways stations. Aside from projects in the UK, I have been involved in disputes in particular in Germany, France and Canada. These cases have been dealt with (variously) by negotiated settlement, by way of High Court litigation, arbitration (both domestic and international) mediation or adjudication.

Mark has also dealt with projects all over the United Kingdom, and more or less all over the world, including projects in France, Germany, Denmark, elsewhere in Europe, Russia, Middle East and Australia. These have included projects procured traditionally, by way of Design & Build or other methods including Construction Management

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