ᐅ Collaboration with Architects

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend and I are currently at the stage of looking for a builder or architect to work with us on our project. We have already had meetings with some architects, and we were told that everything would be free of charge at first. However, one architect has already spent time drawing up designs—can they charge us for these despite the verbal agreement?

Another question: If we decide to go with a different architect, are we allowed to use ideas from the designs of the other architect, or would that be considered idea theft? We are not talking about taking the exact designs but more general aspects, like the layout of the facade or the roof, which you could theoretically come up with on your own...

Thanks for your help...

So, we first went to a developer who planned a house for us. Unfortunately, even after three revisions, we were not satisfied, so we went to another developer with the plans from the first one. He did give them to us.

If you haven’t signed anything, you are not obliged to pay anything. We took the plans with us, but they couldn’t charge us since nothing was agreed upon in writing.

-The architect agreement is a mutual contract formed by offer and acceptance. It is not bound to specific formal requirements. Therefore, it can also be made orally. For clarity and to avoid difficulties in proving its existence, however, a written form is strongly recommended! -

This means that if the architect has drawn plans on your behalf, they are entitled to payment even without a written contract, as long as they can claim and prove this. Regarding their ideas, these constitute intellectual property, so I would be very cautious about *simply copying* them. Claiming to have come up with it independently is not really a valid excuse.

As you say, if he can prove it...
If he says it was agreed upon and you say no, it wasn’t, what is he supposed to do then??? Statement against statement and so on.

We were told that if you haven’t signed anything, he can’t demand money from you. Unless he recorded it on a tape and it’s explicitly on there.

I would be cautious. We have just gone through this step. An architect can charge for services rendered even without a contract. At the next discussion, I would simply ask when costs start to incur for you. As soon as they begin planning and drawing, costs will arise.

Hello,
How did the conversation go? Was the architect told to just come up with some ideas but absolutely not to draw anything? I find that hard to believe...
Or did he actually say he would create some drafts for free? I mean, it depends on the scope of the drafts, but they can’t just be sketched out in a few minutes.

Schdin schrieb:
As you say, if he can prove it...
If he says it was agreed upon and you say no, what can he do then??? Statements against statements, and so on.
We were told that if you didn’t sign anything, he can’t demand money from you either. Unless he recorded a conversation and has explicit proof of it.

Reading this... Have you ever heard of an oral contract? These are the right ones. First, get ideas and then try everything to avoid paying. If you receive a service, you have to pay for it, period!