Sack the architect?

[JackOrion]

We hired an architect when we bought our plot in late 2018. We got through planning and got our permission in spring 2020. We paid our only invoice to his practice at this time (35% of projected total fee), he’d been really helpful up to this point.

 

Since then we’ve gone through lengthy and costly geotechnical investigations (tricky access, sloping plot) and been figuring out potential piling solutions via civil and structural engineers. The detailed drawings have not yet been done. Some rough sketches from architect and fairly frequent (but short) telephone conversations. The exact position of the house and how it sits on the ground is still unclear.

 

We’ve had some concerns over his competency and communication the longer the project has dragged on, and he moved away from the area a couple of years ago. (One of the reasons for hiring was that he was local). The pandemic also muddied the waters as it allowed him to become unavailable.

 

Real alarm bells:

 

He has asked us to lend money on a couple of occasions. The first request was to lend £100k to another of his clients(!) after which we’d “get £130k back” (!!) - he later apologised for suggesting this when we said we couldn’t possibly do this. The second of these requests was last month, when he asked if we could put a sum into his wife’s bank account as his had been frozen. I said no and there’s been no contact since.

 

We’ve just found out his architectural practice (the one we originally commissioned and paid in 2020) actually went into liquidation in early 2021. He was the director and didn’t tell us it had wound up. I discovered via Companies House after last month’s financial request.

 

So… our trust and confidence in him has well and truly gone. He has done some work since the last invoice in 2020 (a few rough sketches, brief but fairly frequent communication with us, as well as the geotechnical and structural engineers) - however the latest 'napkin' sketches last month showed a house that doesn’t fit on the plot and doesn’t comply with our planning permission. (The one he helped us obtain).

 

We're of the opinion now after input from civil and structural engineers that we'll probably have to put in a new planning application as his original drawings are proving both impractical and too costly to build.

 

Needless to say we’re saying goodbye. There’s no contract and he rarely communicates via email. He's a member of the ARB but seems to me like he's breached their standards of conduct and practice.

 

Any tips on how to sever contact cleanly? Since getting the gist of how he operates financially, we’re very concerned he’s going to try and hit us with a huge bill when we pull the plug.

All help appreciated as ever.

[LSB]

7 minutes ago, JackOrion said:

We hired an architect when we bought our plot in late 2018. We got through planning and got our permission in spring 2020. We paid our only invoice to his practice at this time (35% of projected total fee), he’d been really helpful up to this point.

 

Since then we’ve gone through lengthy and costly geotechnical investigations (tricky access, sloping plot) and been figuring out potential piling solutions via civil and structural engineers. The detailed drawings have not yet been done. Some rough sketches from architect and fairly frequent (but short) telephone conversations. The exact position of the house and how it sits on the ground is still unclear.

 

We’ve had some concerns over his competency and communication the longer the project has dragged on, and he moved away from the area a couple of years ago. (One of the reasons for hiring was that he was local). The pandemic also muddied the waters as it allowed him to become unavailable.

 

Real alarm bells:

 

He has asked us to lend money on a couple of occasions. The first request was to lend £100k to another of his clients(!) after which we’d “get £130k back” (!!) - he later apologised for suggesting this when we said we couldn’t possibly do this. The second of these requests was last month, when he asked if we could put a sum into his wife’s bank account as his had been frozen. I said no and there’s been no contact since.

 

We’ve just found out his architectural practice (the one we originally commissioned and paid in 2020) actually went into liquidation in early 2021. He was the director and didn’t tell us it had wound up. I discovered via Companies House after last month’s financial request.

 

So… our trust and confidence in him has well and truly gone. He has done some work since the last invoice in 2020 (a few rough sketches, brief but fairly frequent communication with us, as well as the geotechnical and structural engineers) - however the latest 'napkin' sketches last month showed a house that doesn’t fit on the plot and doesn’t comply with our planning permission. (The one he helped us obtain).

 

We're of the opinion now after input from civil and structural engineers that we'll probably have to put in a new planning application as his original drawings are proving both impractical and too costly to build.

 

Needless to say we’re saying goodbye. There’s no contract and he rarely communicates via email. He's a member of the ARB but seems to me like he's breached their standards of conduct and practice.

 

Any tips on how to sever contact cleanly? Since getting the gist of how he operates financially, we’re very concerned he’s going to try and hit us with a huge bill when we pull the plug.

All help appreciated as ever.

What did you commission him to do, full project management or just drawings and and was this all specified on the original quotation.

In other words do you think he's done more than the 35% that you have paid him for.

If not then just send him a letter / email / text / carrier pigeon to say that you no longer require his services and if he responds with a bill ask him to specify exactly what the bill's for.

Also, surely if you commissioned the company, which no longer exists then you would have heard from the insolvency auditors if you owed him money as they would have looked at the debts he had and the monies owed.

He must have had debts otherwise he wouldn't be bankrupt.

You could try asking the citizens advice bureau as well.

 

As you have said you need to be well clear of him to progress in your build, I hope you can at least use some of his drawings and good luck

 

 

[Kelvin]

Sheesh. You’ve paid 35% of the estimated total fee. Is it clear what the 65% that’s left related to? My guess is he’ll respond with a proportion of this to account for his time spent on phone calls and drawings. He might well start at 65%. Did you sign a contract? Just re-read there’s no contract. 
 

He’s clearly a con man or desperate. What honest professional asks a client to lend another client money. And contact the ARB. He deserves to be ‘struck off’. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Kelvin

[MJNewton]

Good grief - what a situation! Reading the post I was assuming it was going to be a repeat of what we often see - slow progress, not meeting expectations, differences of opinion etc - and then a discussion about how to break free without causing offence etc... BUT this one is very different! I am not a lawyer but personally I'd just run away as fast as possible without looking back. At best he sounds thoroughly incompetent and so I wouldn't have any fears about him chasing you for anything. Just in case, write everything down now about the sequence of events etc whilst it is fresh in your mind and file it away just in case it needs to be referred to again.

 

I'd say the question really is how can you recover money already paid (or some of) but if you're willing/able to let that go to end the sorry saga then perhaps do so.

 

Edited January 22, 2023 by MJNewton

[JackOrion]

11 minutes ago, LSB said:

What did you commission him to do, full project management or just drawings and and was this all specified on the original quotation.

In other words do you think he's done more than the 35% that you have paid him for.

If not then just send him a letter / email / text / carrier pigeon to say that you no longer require his services and if he responds with a bill ask him to specify exactly what the bill's for.

Also, surely if you commissioned the company, which no longer exists then you would have heard from the insolvency auditors if you owed him money as they would have looked at the debts he had and the monies owed.

He must have had debts otherwise he wouldn't be bankrupt.

You could try asking the citizens advice bureau as well.

 

As you have said you need to be well clear of him to progress in your build, I hope you can at least use some of his drawings and good luck

 

 

 

Only ever agreed drawings, not project management, although we never received an actual written quotation from him. As mentioned, barely anything via email since we started, all just over the phone.

 

Total fee was to be 10% of total original projected build cost (£200k). We've paid 35% of this 10%, so basically £7k + VAT. Ran this by another architect friend of a friend who suggested this was standard practice to charge this kind of amount once planning granted.

 

Although I forgot to mention in my original post: he said we hadn't paid him at all when we spoke last month. I provided his invoice and proof / date of payment and he backtracked, saying he'd mislaid paperwork.

 

My understanding was that the next fee would be due once detailed drawings were delivered. We're quite a way off that, he's done very little the past two years as we've made next to no progress as far as the actual house goes, the project's largely been in the hands of a very slow structural engineer looking at foundations since then.

 

Originally found via the Architect's Journal and seemed to have a decent reputation. Clearly we've also been a bit naive – this is our first time dealing with an architect and we trusted him.

[Kelvin]

Can the design you have be adapted so that it buildable for reasonable money and still satisfy the planning application you have? It’s another huge expense in money and wasted time (which is also extra cost) to go through planning again. Post up your drawings removing any identifying information. 

[JackOrion]

22 minutes ago, MJNewton said:

Good grief - what a situation! Reading the post I was assuming it was going to be a repeat of what we often see - slow progress, not meeting expectations, differences of opinion etc - and then a discussion about how to break free without causing offence etc... BUT this one is very different! I am not a lawyer but personally I'd just run away as fast as possible without looking back. At best he sounds thoroughly incompetent and so I wouldn't have any fears about him chasing you for anything. Just in case, write everything down now about the sequence of events etc whilst it is fresh in your mind and file it away just in case it needs to be referred to again.

 

I'd say the question really is how can you recover money already paid (or some of) but if you're willing/able to let that go to end the sorry saga then perhaps do so.

 

 

We won't be able to recover any of that money as the practice was liquidated. And am certain he will want more for work carried out since then.

 

The only written indication of fees / percentages etc is on his practice invoice from 2020. This is the closest thing to anything contractual we have. Since the practice is no more I'm unsure where that leaves things legally.

At first it was largely being slow and lack of attention to detail, then later suspected incompetence. The financial side has only come to the fore recently.

 

[JackOrion]

9 minutes ago, Kelvin said:

Can the design you have be adapted so that it buildable for reasonable money and still satisfy the planning application you have? It’s another huge expense in money and wasted time (which is also extra cost) to go through planning again. Post up your drawings removing any identifying information. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. We're looking into this at the moment, and speaking to our planning consultant. It really comes down to how much wriggle room we have within that planning permission.

[Iceverge]

I would have a word with your solicitor, providing them with as much info as you can. 

 

Get them to draft a watertight letter dispensing with the architects services. Maybe even claiming moneys back for services not provided. If you take this approach the liquidators will probably put you at the bottom of the list of cases to deal with, probably just write you off. 

 

It'll cost a few £100 but a good solicitor will leave you pretty well protected. 

 

 

Put the rest down to experience and try to move on.  There's always hiccups along the road, be it ground conditions, ill health etc. 

 

Ob the plus side you have permission for something. That's 90% of the battle. Maybe start a new topic, post some plans and drawings and go from there. 

 

We had 3 sets of planning before we built. 

 

 

 

 

[ToughButterCup]

2 hours ago, JackOrion said:

...

There’s no contract

...

Any tips on how to sever contact cleanly?

...

 

Ignore every letter, or email, answer no phone call. Remember the lesson.  Wince. 

 

[Bozza]

Report him to the regulators, the ARB.  If you don’t there may be future victims.   He may well already be under investigation already.  If you feel bad about this on a personal level, don’t.  He could be ripping people off. If he’s not at it, the regulators will establish that either way.  Innocent professionals have no issue whatsoever with being investigated by regulators as it allows them to prove they are indeed professional.  
 

 

 

 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

He's clearly not having a great time. Figure out what you want to happen and have a polite call / face-to-face and see whether he agrees. He may be resistant at first but come round to your way of thinking.

 

In terms of contractual position: your original contract was with his practice. As the practice no longer exists / is in liquidation its almost certainly not possible for him/the liquidator to enforce anything. And unlikely you can realistically enforce anything against him either.

 

If you just want rid with no liability either way, the solicitor's letter and/or a clear letter yourself (send electronically and by signed for post) stating the bland facts and that the contract is terminated due to frustration (as his practice has gone out of business) will do fine. No need to be emotional, blaming etc or re-hash old wounds. Just be factual with dates / copies of docs etc if necessary. However, one short paragraph will probably do it.

[MikeSharp01]

Sounds awful - very sorry to hear this. No contract no payment seems like a plan to start with and report to ARB.

 

 

[ETC]

Agree with all of the above. Ring the ARB and let them know exactly what has happened. As a Registered Architect your experience astounds me and gives the professional a very bad reputation. Can you post your original drawings. I’d love to help out in some small way if I can.

[Jilly]

Is there any way his account could have been hacked? That request for money seems bizzare.

[SteamyTea]

24 minutes ago, Jilly said:

Is there any way his account could have been hacked? That request for money seems bizzare.

That is the kind of excuse that a fraudster would claim once in trouble.

 

 

[Papillon]

ARB, as others have said. They will be able to offer you advice and kick him in to touch. 

 

So many things here that he’s done are enough to get him struck off, from having no contract to the ‘the fees were just resting in my account’ stuff. I bet he doesn’t have PI, but that’s your next stop. 
 

I don’t think you’ll have to pay if you navigate this properly and don’t be tempted to just pay in order to cut him off cleanly. There are things in place to help you through ARB.