ᐅ Issues with the Architect's Invoice for a Planned Construction Project
Created on: 12 Dec 2021 17:55
W
Wildente
Hello everyone,
The question was whether it would be possible to convert a pigsty with a grain storage into apartments. A contractor came to take a look and recommended an architect, who visited the site with another lady and took the old building documents with her. Later, she called and said that after consulting with the building authority, a building permit (planning permission) would be approved if the exterior appearance remained unchanged and the neighbor raised no objections. However, it turned out that we are currently unable to proceed with the construction project for operational reasons. I informed the architect about this by phone and politely asked if I owed her anything. She replied, "What should I charge for, since nothing was done." After several weeks, she sent back the building documents we had given her – together with an invoice for 5 hours, which I immediately returned in frustration. Yesterday, the invoice arrived again by registered mail, referencing HOAI §§ 1 and 2 in the cover letter, and she demands immediate payment while putting us in default.
Until now, no contractor who was asked to inspect a possible job and provide an offer has ever charged for this. We never received an offer or any other services from the architect; the invoice was the first and only written document. Does half an hour of inspection and a phone call with the building authority to initiate a business relationship justify charging five hours at the HOAI hourly rate? She interpreted my question about whether I owed her anything as an invitation to invoice. What now – I appreciate any advice, or are we left with only a lawyer and court proceedings?
Having had a bad experience, from now on no one will come onto our property without first providing their costs in writing.
Wildente
The question was whether it would be possible to convert a pigsty with a grain storage into apartments. A contractor came to take a look and recommended an architect, who visited the site with another lady and took the old building documents with her. Later, she called and said that after consulting with the building authority, a building permit (planning permission) would be approved if the exterior appearance remained unchanged and the neighbor raised no objections. However, it turned out that we are currently unable to proceed with the construction project for operational reasons. I informed the architect about this by phone and politely asked if I owed her anything. She replied, "What should I charge for, since nothing was done." After several weeks, she sent back the building documents we had given her – together with an invoice for 5 hours, which I immediately returned in frustration. Yesterday, the invoice arrived again by registered mail, referencing HOAI §§ 1 and 2 in the cover letter, and she demands immediate payment while putting us in default.
Until now, no contractor who was asked to inspect a possible job and provide an offer has ever charged for this. We never received an offer or any other services from the architect; the invoice was the first and only written document. Does half an hour of inspection and a phone call with the building authority to initiate a business relationship justify charging five hours at the HOAI hourly rate? She interpreted my question about whether I owed her anything as an invitation to invoice. What now – I appreciate any advice, or are we left with only a lawyer and court proceedings?
Having had a bad experience, from now on no one will come onto our property without first providing their costs in writing.
Wildente
Gerddieter schrieb:
A decent architect would have taken that as client acquisition and been happy if you came back later... now the lady has disqualified herself... Oh – I thought that “this is also advertising for you” type of clients were a “privilege” of web designers *LOL*
I find this “culture” of expecting free tasters to *ifIsaythisIwillprobablybeBanned*
minimini schrieb:
Maybe the architect doesn’t handle the billing herself, and the process just went through an assistant following a standard routine. Sudden termination of architectural contracts is generally not covered by the fee structure, so the architect has no choice but to charge flat hourly fees as a sort of provisional offer. Five hours—which, in the case of a certified professional with final responsibility, would amount to around six hundred euros (the architect’s work is certainly not an entry-level task!)—is actually very customer-friendly, and in the sense of @Gerddieter, clearly signals “I would be happy if you come back.” If the original poster then also
Wildente schrieb:
charges an hourly rate according to HOAI multiplied by five and mocks that as a single hour multiplied by five, I think that really takes the cake. Even the basic attitude of labeling a (albeit apparently underestimated) extensive qualified service as “client acquisition” makes me shake my head for several minutes at this level of consumer arrogance.
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
Tolentino schrieb:
In this respect, we cannot act as a "court of law" to determine the true facts based on evidence and witness statements. That’s exactly what I’m saying, and I agree with you:
ypg schrieb:
But that would now be speculation.
So we stick to the facts here. 11ant schrieb:
The fee schedule structure does not really account for abrupt terminations of architect contracts, leaving the architect no choice but to charge flat hourly rates as a kind of reference offer. Five hours—which, for comparison, would amount to around six hundred euros at an end client in the local area (architecture is not an unskilled job!)—is very customer-friendly, and in the opinion of @Gerddieter, clearly serves as the signal "I look forward to working with you again." If the original poster also I don’t understand the context in which you are quoting me. My point was simply that it seems reasonable, in a situation where there is a “rumor that the architect doesn’t want to charge” plus “a bill arrives weeks later,” to just pick up the phone and have a conversation.
minimini schrieb:
I don’t understand the context in which you are quoting me. minimini schrieb:
Maybe the architect doesn’t prepare her invoices herself, and the process was handled by an assistant following a standard routine. The assistant could not have proceeded according to any "standard routine" here because by the client’s termination of the contract for work, the framework of the "standard routine" (aka HOAI) was no longer applicable. In this special case, all parties are in a difficult situation: the HOAI contains a major legal gap for such cases, and the Building Code only intervenes due to jurisdiction, but it also lacks detailed regulations for determining the amount. How to handle this situation is well beyond the decision-making authority of an assistant. That means the assistant may have only suggested something, but this would not have been decided without the leading involvement of the principal architect. Essentially, the only way to avoid a courtroom dispute is exactly what the architect did: a settlement offer so far in favor of the opposing side that it is effectively not acceptable. The client can do nothing wiser than to promptly pay this very accommodating minimal invoice. We are clearly dealing here with a claim amount (that the architect might assert) where legal fees would be multiples higher (and I hope the penny has dropped that the client had a contract here even without it being in writing).
https://www.instagram.com/11antgmxde/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bauen-jetzt/
G
Gerddieter14 Dec 2021 00:0411ant schrieb:
The original poster can’t do anything smarter here than quickly settling this very reasonable small claim. We are clearly dealing with a dispute value (what the architect might claim) in a range where legal fees would be many times higher (and I hope the penny drops that the OP had already entered into a contract here even without written confirmation). ...
In the end, I agree with you: the OP should just pay to save their nerves.
However, your overly long arguments are incorrect. Even if there was an oral contract through engaging the architect, the task (checking feasibility) does not constitute a service under HOAI – 11ant, you know the work phases yourself... which one could that be? The preliminary work phase would still be far from completed here...
So let’s not put the architect in an overly favorable light – she is simply demanding the maximum of what she hopes to receive. I don’t see any concession there, unlike you, @11ant.
GD
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