Professional negligence against architect

Dave 123 said:
It wasn't the BCO who rejected it, BCO pointed out that the plan is incorrect. BCO asked BC SE to review it and explained that we have a half brick wall not a single brick wall as per drawings. This is when BC SE asked the architect to justify the proposed design.
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ah ok

Dave 123 said:
My point is, even if we didn't start work, the drawings would be approved, as the BC wouldn't know they were incorrect until they came for a site visit.
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I see -so the plans submitted would have passed because they incorrectly showed a full single brick wall not half
and the architect arranged for a SE to do a design based on that error


I guess the problem is that you started work before BC completed their plan checking


Dave 123 said:
What I wonder is, can an architect take a project, design it, make a mess of it because he didn't carry out a proper survey and then leave a client to find a solution? Isn't there duty of care?
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Well I guess the architect is negligent because the drawings were incorrect.
and the architect is negligent because the SE calculations were also wrong as they were based on the architects site survey.

It would seem to me the architect made an error and you made an error having work done before plans were checked. Also the cost of the work was always going to cost more because of the half brick wall. I suppose the reality is the claim might be partly valid but what % of the £7,200 is hard to know.
 
Notch7 said:
I guess the problem is that you started work before BC completed their plan checking
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That's the knockout blow. The best the OP can hope for is to collect the architects (and associated) fees.

"All measurements to be verified by the builder on site..." etc.
 
costs are pegged at county courts ( to an extent) no harm in filing against the fella for a set fee

see what the reaction will be ?

he will file a defence ? see what it is ? he may offer u a settlement sum ?

but do not go to arbitration if it is offered by the court
 
I think your chances of getting the extra costs reimbursed will be very slim. But little to lose by trying, other than time and the small claims court fees.
 
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Dave 123 said:
It wasn't the BCO who rejected it, BCO pointed out that the plan is incorrect. BCO asked BC SE to review it and explained that we have a half brick wall not a single brick wall as per drawings. This is when BC SE asked the architect to justify the proposed design.
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To be clear: your existing house has this half brick wall.
The architect instead of drawing the half brick wall, drew a single brick wall.
Then the structural engineer based his calculations on this.
Correct?

BTW what's a half brick wall? Never seen anything 2 inches thick made of bricks. Excuse my ignorance.
 
johnny2007 said:
To be clear: your existing house has this half brick wall.
The architect instead of drawing the half brick wall, drew a single brick wall.
Then the structural engineer based his calculations on this.
Correct?
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Yes, correct
 
Perhaps I've missed it in the thread but where the heckypeck does the £7200 figure come from, what had to do be done or presumably redone to cost that?
 
freddiemercurystwin said:
Perhaps I've missed it in the thread but where the heckypeck does the £7200 figure come from, what had to do be done or presumably redone to cost that?
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This is what we paid to do the extra work. The remedy was to brace the half brick wall against another brick wall. The work involved bolting a welded steel frame at ground floor level which offered some buttressing for the half brick wall. The frame also had steel lugs welded to the frame and bolted to the half brick wall. Part of the floor at ground floor level had to be lifted to do a foundation pad for the frame.
 
A few things to think about;
1 The architect's offer to refund his fees- has he given you that in writing? If so then you can (more or less) bank it, if not then that offer will get whisked off the table soon as the summons hits his desk (though he has no defence against your claim of negligence so you're on good grounds there)
2 The £7200 extra- can you break that down into unavoidable costs (ie what had to be done to make the scheme work with that half brick wall) and avoidable costs (for instance if you paid £1000 for the original steelwork which turned out to be useless and you had to spend another £1500 on steelwork that was actually required for the scheme then you have a legitimate claim for the £1000-worth of steel (which wouldn't have been ordered if the drawing had been correct).
3 Likewise with time charges from the builder but again you wouldn't be entitled to all his additional costs. So say builder had to rip out 2 days work, which took him a day- you have a legit claim for those 3 days (that work would not have happened if the drawing had been accurate) but not for the 2 days the builder took to install the proper solution.
4 Any professional fees you paid to others for the design rectification- yes you can claim for them. Your original architect had the opportunity to redesign the scheme and didn't, effectively abandoning you.
5 Has there been any betterment within the scheme changes (for instance have you ended up with more floorspace or more headroom or any other quantifiable gain)- if so then you shouldn't really be claiming for that element.

Starting work before Building Control approved the plans was unwise but I don't think in your case it is a showstopper- you said your original plans were validated by Building Control, it was only on a subsequent site visit that they spotted the discrepancy. So if that's his only defence he's in trouble (and if he's local his next 10 jobs will be a mare if the client then uses LABC)

noseall has a point about that catchall clause (builder to confirm all measurements) but this is small claims, a layman (such as myself) would consider 'I've paid good money to some professionals to measure up and draw this scheme, why buy a dog and bark myself?'. If they'd drawn a wall that didn't exist or omitted a wall that did exist then it would be more reasonable for them to assert that you or the builder should have spotted the discrepancy.

I think you've got a decent case.

You MUST prepare a clear and honest timeline of what happened on what dates. You'll also need a chat with your builder about the avoidable/unavoidable elements (my guess is if the drawing had been correct your scheme would probably have cost £3000 ish more than your original price so you'd be looking to collect £4200 plus matey's fees.

OR do the timeline, claim for the full sum and see what happens- I reckon the fees are a given, a judge might well go 50/50 (cos of that clause). Don't worry about needing expert witnesses and stuff like that, the whole point of small claims is to adjudicate in cases where the facts are fairly clear and to keep the costs to all parties down.



Hope that helps, hopefully you're enjoying your loft
 
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