Guide to Using the RIBA Professional Services Contracts 2018 - Other - Page 12
Introduction
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Fees and charges
The ‘Fees’ section has been simplified by removing the boxes that aligned fees to
stages of the Plan of Work. This is now a ‘free-hand’ text box so that users can simply
set out their fees as the Architect/Consultant prefers.
Fee payments
The payment frequency options have been expanded as well as having the
additional option of using a draw-down schedule. The payment provision in
the Standard and Concise versions already complies with the Housing Grants,
Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (as amended) and, although the Act does
not apply to residential occupiers/domestic projects, similar efficient provisions have
now been included in the Domestic version for ease of use.
Meetings and site visits
Options for the frequency or number of design meetings have been added into the
Schedule of Services for each stage to supplement the frequency or number of site
visits previously available.
Dealing with the complex world of insurance
The Contract Details have been revised so that they clearly set out the main
insurance policies that should be in place.
The insurance guidance and clauses have been checked and approved by the
RIBA Insurance Agency.
Liability and insurances
Liability and insurances have been split into two distinct sections. The Architect/
Consultant’s liability has been amended, so that liability is now limited to the
project in question. Net contribution clauses have been reintroduced into the
RIBA Domestic PSC due to recent developments in case law, namely the case of
West & West v Ian Finlay & Associates, in which the Technology and Construction
Court confirmed in its judgement that a net contribution clause does not offend the
Consumer Protection Regulations as being ‘unfair’.
Dispute resolution process
The guidance on dispute resolution has been expanded but completing the
documents has been simplified and made easier to understand.
For the Standard and Concise versions, the Parties may choose which dispute
resolution method(s) they will use should a dispute arise. Adjudication is still
available to either party to select at any time, as the parties to the Contract are legally
obliged, under statute, to have access to this method for resolving their dispute.
However, the Contract advocates that the parties choose mediation as an initial
step in the process, as mediation can be less expensive than other methods, and is
therefore encouraged by the courts.
For the Domestic Contract, the Client has the right to refer any dispute to the
courts but may wish to attempt to settle the matter by alternative means such as
negotiation or mediation – and the courts will often make it a precondition to hearing
a case that the parties have attempted an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADM)
method. Therefore, mediation and adjudication are highlighted as the initial/preferred
forms of settling any dispute in the Contract Details.
Information formats
There is an expanded ‘Electronic Data Transfer Protocol’ to give greater clarity on
Building Information Modelling (BIM).
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