ABSTRACT
An architect who does advise the transfer of design responsibility to others has a clear duty to ensure that appropriate contracts and warranties are put in place to protect the client in the event that there are defects in the transferred designs. If the architect has entered into an engagement with a client on one of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Agreements or on a simple exchange of letters, that architect can have overall responsibility for design of the project. Architects and clients usually work together very closely to produce the brief and then to create the building that solves the problem posed by the brief. In the Standard Agreement, the client is said to have 'a licence to copy and use drawings, documents and all other such work produced by or on behalf of the Architect in performing the Services'.
