Thank you for instructing us to carry out this commission for you. For the sake of clarity, we have included the Terms and Conditions on our website as a point of reference.
The services that we will provide (“the Services”) are detailed below, as are the terms on which we will carry out this commission and which constitute the contract between you and us (“the Agreement”).
- Reasonable skill and care – We will use all reasonable skill and care in the performance of the Services.
- Information Provision– You will immediately provide us with all information that you have in your possession that is relevant to the Services and/or that we have requested from you. You will also provide us with all planning decisions, consents and approvals that we need to enable us to properly complete the Services, within a reasonable timeframe. You acknowledge that we do not warrant:
- that planning permission or any other approvals from third parties will be granted at all or, if granted, will be granted in accordance with any anticipated timescale;
- compliance with any programme and/or any target cost for building work which may need to be reviewed for: (a) variations requested or approved by you; (b) delays caused by any other person(s) or third party; (c) any other factors beyond our control; (d) the competence, performance, work, services, products or solvency of any third party or person(s) that has involvement on your project.
- Progress Updates – We will keep you informed as to the progress of the Services and inform you of any issue that could significantly affect either/or the scope, our performance and/or delivery of the Services, or the amount of our fees.
- Fee Estimates – If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, the estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that will be the case (i.e. in our Covering Letter). Otherwise, our fees will be calculated on the basis of the hours worked by each member of staff engaged on your project, with VAT to be charged thereon.
- Fee Calculation – You will pay us our Fee, as set out in our covering letter. Any time charge fees will be calculated at a rate of £95 per hour plus VAT. We confirm that this hourly rate is reviewed annually on 1st July each year and it can, therefore, be subject to an increase. However, we will notify you of any such increases, as soon as reasonably practicable.
- Fixed Fee Proposals – Lapworth Architects may indicate a fixed fee proposal for the provision of specific services or an indicative range of fees for a particular instruction. The fixed fee proposal provided by us in any attachments to this Agreement, will relate solely to the Services that can be reasonably envisaged, as arising out of the assessment that we have undertaken on any discussions that we have had with you, together with the information that you have supplied and review that we have completed on the condition of any building and the land, in question. If the scope of the Services has to subsequently be increased or altered (e.g. by our providing ad hoc consultancy advice, a requirement for our attendance at additional meetings, time spent on substantial design changes requested by you, etc.) then the fee for this additional work shall be calculated on a time charge basis as set out Paragraph 4 above, and will be included on the subsequent invoice.
- Disbursements – We will also charge you for all disbursements (i.e. pocket expenses) that we reasonably incur in our delivery of the Services (e.g. printing, couriers, travel, subsistence, fees for reproducing material held by third parties and any advice taken regarding any reasonable variations or additions that are required to these standard terms to enable us to properly deliver all of our Services), as priced below: