Hi Minimas
First, don't panic about the solicitor's letter.
This has gone around the houses for two years.
Most solicitors letters allow a week to two weeks to respond.
Check what it says an when it was dated and try to reply in a reasonable time.
If there is no time just instruct your solicitor to deal with the matter on your behalf.
Some will issue a holding letter, confirming receipt and saying they are considering their response or whatever.
Others may actually ignore the matter - you'd be surprised at the kind of hardball solicitors offices play amongst each other.
Second, let's get a couple of queries out of the way first.
- Did you sign a letter of appointment?
- Did it refer to a fee proposal?
If the answer to these questions is "no" and you were a hard ass you could take a tough position.
You could take the view that your initial discussions with them never went forward beyond an outline brief and their inappropriate proposals reflect this.
You could do this - if you were a hard-ass.
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However I think its more likely you could be in the position of a recent client of mine who many years ago appointed an architect to design a building.
The archiiect came back with unworkable designs, and in one case was the subject of critical comment by the local authority where it appeared he had not taken on board their specific requirements.
He sued for full fees to planning stage and my clients difficulty, according to his solicitor, was that he never instructed him to stop and he allowed work to continue without a fee being agreed.
This is reflected in your own position, where you did not accept the initial proposal and discussed a further revision, but even then you did not get or press for a fee estimate or proposal to be agreed.
Most important, you did not than instruct him to stop.
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I agree with threebedsemi that the RIAI mediation route is a reasonable option.
I think you should definitely consider going down this path if you want to show the judge that you tried to be reasonable and acted to mitigate your loss.
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However I have another suggestion - several actually, centring on registration.
Check with the RIAI website to see if this architect is currently registered.
If he is unregistered it is an offence for him to use the Title Architect.
#1
If he us unregistered and is neither an MRIAI nor assessed separately for Registration he cannot become registered.
This could turn out to be a serious matter for him if he takes you to court.
After all, he's charging you fees
as an architect.
#2
If he is an MRIAI but has not paid his annual fee his name may not be on the Register.
This is a technical breach, since he is eligible to be registered, but still a breach.
The offence is one of "not being registered" and this may hold across the board.
You may be able to use this to bring him to the table and do a deal.
#3
Even if he is registered and/or a Member of the Institute there may be another issue.
Members of the Institute were entitled to automatic registration by Part 3 of the Building Control Act 2007 which came in on 1st May 2008, but registration only commenced on 16th November 2009.
Thus between May 1st 2008 and 16th November 2010 there was an 18-month interregnum during which it was an offence to use the Title if you were unregistered, but it was impossible to register.
If he worked for you during this period and represented himself to you as an architect during this time, he may be guilty of an offence under Section 18 of the Act - ask your solicitor to check this.
Putting this in your defense to his solicitor may soften his cough enough to make him more likely to deal with you on fees.
In all cases you should refer him to the RIAI/Registrar and the Minister for the Environment.
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As a matter of course, you should instruct your solicitor to ask to seek evidence of his Professional Indemnity insurance.
I'm not sure if this is mandatory, but its certainly wise to have if you're doing any building work or advising on commercial projects.
Health and safety can play such a big part in litigation and Designers have unavoidable obligations under the Health and Safety legislation
Again, if he's not got this cover, instruct your solicitor to ask him to confirm why he is charging you so much.
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Under the heading of due diligence ask for an hourly breakdown of work done, including a record of all calls and e-mails.
This may make him realise the reality of the situation in terms of work done and may help break the deadlock.
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Finally and for the record, what size was the house and what was the amount charged for the Fee?
HTH
ONQ.
[broken link removed]
All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.