ABSTRACT
This chapter is principally about the liability of an architect to pay damages for professional negligence. ‘Professional negligence’ is a convenient shorthand for describing the liability of a professional – whether in contract or in tort – for breach of the obligation to provide professional services with reasonable care and skill and diligence. The primary source of an architect’s obligations, vis-à-vis its employer client, is the contract between the architect and the employer client. An architect may also owe contractual obligations to third parties as a result of the provision of collateral warranties. It is no surprise that an architect owes fundamental obligations of honesty and integrity in its dealings with others in addition to obligations of competence. As the agent of the employer client, an architect will owe to its employer client all the usual duties of an agent, and there may be circumstances in which, as a result, an architect owes fiduciary duties to the employer client.
