{"id":1828,"date":"2012-03-08T14:01:18","date_gmt":"2012-03-08T14:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markstephensarchitects.com\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2012-03-08T14:01:18","modified_gmt":"2012-03-08T14:01:18","slug":"architects-fee-at-practical-completion-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markstephensarchitects.com\/architects-fee-at-practical-completion-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"Architects Fee at Practical Completion [Poll]"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is something that arisen very recently and it seems to be an interesting topic for architects (judging by the great response from fellow professionals on a recent tweet):<\/p>\n

What is the percentage of the architects fee that should be paid at Practical Completion?<\/em><\/p>\n

The RIAI Domestic Agreement leaves it open; if you are working in line with the contractors agreement the answer is 95% (assuming a 10% retention) but many are saying that in today’s climate then a more realistic answer should be 100%, this is for a number of reasons:<\/p>\n

1. You’ve been on the project for a long time already and it’s highly unlikely you’re going to skip off at this stage<\/p>\n

2. The architects role at this stage is administrative only and the 5% to get to completion does not correlate with the amount of work that the architect is to undertake<\/p>\n

3. Why should the architect be the last one to get paid, frequently at this stage there is no money left and the architect remains unpaid; what other profession regularly writes of 5% of the bill in this way? <\/p>\n

I’m forever saying that we’re living in a complete different economic world than even a few years ago and remember that Ireland is in a complete different economic world than the majority of the rest of Europe. It’s standard practice now that during the construction period Architects are paid in stages as per the certificates\/draw downs (this is only casually mentioned in the RIAI Domestic Agreement ‘Interim Payments may<\/em> be made, by agreement, during any work stage’.<\/p>\n

So, I’m going to ask you my dear readers – What should be the percentage of the Architects fee that should be paid at Practical Completion?<\/p>\n<\/a>

<\/div>
<\/div>