ABSTRACT
The fee proposal made to a client must be right for the project concerned. It is very difficult to renegotiate services in the absence of clear project boundaries in terms of scope, time and risk. Clients, especially consumer clients, want a professional architect who will guide them through the complexities, uncertainties, fluidity and risks of a project. The relationship may start informally and then develop along professional lines. The relationship will be a long one and there may be multiple stakeholders. The professional services contract crystallises the client–architect relationship and is the key element of one's business model. The profession recognises that an oral agreement is insufficient to fully reflect an architect’s obligations to a client, due to the complexity, value and worth of an architect’s service. Many small and medium-sized practices gain most of their work from consumer clients. The consumer in English law has a different set of rights to those of commercial clients.
