Let it go.
Find a new client.
Stay in closer contact.
Focus your energy on designing the hell out of the new project.
Enjoy life.

Was the deposit all you ever got from him, or was he paying you in monthly installments up until the communication meltdown?

i understand that you have billed the client, but have you had any conversations with them about the legal ramifications of them taking your drawings?

i am not too skilled in client relations, but i would get the invoice delivered again with a verification of delivery, along with a letter stating your position on the matter of payment, and copyright infringement.

if that doesn't work get your lawyer involved if the remainder of the sum is worth it.

If you want this solved without a humungous lawyer-filled scene, I would really be willing to compromise on the contract amount since 1) you didn't actually do all of the work stated in the contract, since you didn't take it through to permit drawings yourself (right? or am I confused?), and 2) you let the communication go just as much as he did. Tally up the time you spent on the project, figure out how far you got towards the goal, and make sure you get at least the amount that those figures suggest is appropriate, but going for the full contract amount may prove to be more trouble than it's worth.

molotov cocktail?

i won't tell anyone

(now that's an educated response!)

I would have billed at the end of the design phase.

Personally, I feel I made a postive effort to keep it moving. I sensed they were having trouble making up their mind on the scope of work and pending cost. Since he was in a agreement with me and decided to let someone else finish it without at least contacting me and letting me know. I might had agreed to let him use my work for just the cost of the design phase.
RIm. Sorry, I can't just let it go. Too many people out there want something for nothing. I'm not in business to not make money.
I've being doing Design/ Build for 20 years. The Firm I was with for 15 of those years let this type of thing happen to them all the time. So therefore they never were able to pay me what I thought I deserved. Now on my own. I promised myself not to be taken advantage of.
That's just my personal stance. Legally I feel there is no way he can justify his actions.

I'm with rationalist on this one. You really shouldn't be paid for work you didn't do, and since you never completed the drawings, I don't think you necessarily deserve payment for that amount of work. My contracts state that the client can cancel the contract at any time and we will only be paid for work performed to that point. Of course every contract is different.

Also, the communication breakdown sounds like it could have been handled better: nine months is a long time to let something slide!

However, the fact that he built something based on your drawings is significant. The big question is: did your contact state anything about the ideas/drawings/design being your copyrighted work? That might be worth getting a lawyer involved. At the very least, you should get a letter from the client stating that you are not responsible for anything that might go wrong with the project later, as well as one from the contractor stating that s/he will not use any of the ideas from this project on subsequent porojects. This might be worth getting a lawyer involved, sad to say.

Or you could partially follow Rim Joist's suggestion: get paid for the work you DID do, then let go of the idea of ownership/copyright and make the next job better.

Good luck, it sucks to feel like you've been cheated but some things really are better, mentally and emotionally, to just let go.

talk to your legal counsel first and get a clear understanding of exactly where you stand, legally speaking. could you sue? for how much? what are your chances of winning a court case? could the client even pay if you won? etc.

then, with a full understanding of the legal limitations of your position ask yourself specifically what you want from the client (dollar amount, design credit, etc) at this point you can approach the client with your idea of a fair resolution and if he agrees then you're all set. if he gives you an attitude then you can threaten to sick your bulldog attorney on him (which might spook him into settling with) and lastly, if he continues to piss on you and assuming you have the legal foundation to stand and are willing to put up with the hassle of a fight, and only then, hit him with the nasty lawsuit. if you're going to let something get ugly, make sure it worth it...otherwise, just move on.

It is a pissy world....one of my former clients recenty put a project of mine on e-bay, spinning national attention....and you know the bugger niked me cause he didn't feel I performed....now he is selling for five million. I pissed him off a long time ago. Lawyers are creepy, and so is the law, when it comes to Architecture. Dance lightly and travel on, Life is to Short!

I don't intend on making a federal case out of this. Maybe, at most I'll take it to small claims court. I've got other clients and plenty of work. If I can get paid based on what the law allows. That's what I want. Also, being a sole proprietor I feel it's important that I don't waste time with jerks.
Two things I think are important here:
1Principle
2 Understanding of the Law
I created a contract to describe the work I was providing.
As we know some clients have trouble dealing with how to make a project happen. Their personal life adds to the difficulty of the process. Usually, they realize the project is more the more than they originally expected and need to think things over. I felt this was the case and they were waffling. Why is it wrong that nine months goes by and it's only up to me the put life back into the project? Doesn't the client share some responsibility?
My understanding of copyrights is that my work is my property. I don't need to spell out that the work is protected. Although,if there is some notification on my drawings it makes my case easier. Ignorance of the law does not automatically make you innocent. But, there is some leniency if the case goes to trial for the offender. Since they can claim they had no idea the work was protected. The court considers this. In this case he made copies of my plans without my consent and used the them to obtain a permit and construct the addition I designed. I was under contract to provide this. Why does he have the right to not notify me of his intention to proceed without me?.
Partly why I'm discussing this here. So I can learn more about how to beef up my contract to protect myself better.

Also, I don't think I need to address the issue of construction flaws or problems with the built project. I don't see why I need to ask to be released from any liability. Since it wasn't brought to my attention that they were actually building it until it was practically finished. I had no ability to provide supervision at any level. That responsibility is the owner and the contractor
I don't intent on getting lawyer for this. It's not necessary. It's only a couple of thousand dollars I was contracted for. I intend to inform owner of my stance and how I plan to proceed. I'm discussing here to help me prepare my stance.
Basically, I will continue to bill him for remaining contract every couple of weeks. So I can at least prove I offered him many chances to settle. By the way he did contact me and offer to pay the full amount intially and asked I send him a bill. But, since I sent the actual bill he has not responded.

I don't think you can simultaneoudly say "It's MY design" and then say "But I'm not responsible for aything that might go wrong with it." I mean it is common sense that you shouldn't be held responsible for something over which you had no contraol since it was being done without your knowledge - but the law rarely takes common sense into account. My suggestion is a CYA move.

Similarly, common sense says that the client should have contacted you before proceeding with your drawings. But likewise, if you thought the project was on hold after not hearing from him for even a month, you should have clarified that with him. A month is typically a billing schedule, thus if I have no communication with a client for a month I assume something strange is going on, like they want to put the project on hold but are embarassed to contact me about it - but the professional thing to do is at least come to an understanding of what the status of the project is before you stop communicating with the client for any length of time. If you had spoken to him and he said the project was on hold, then six months later you found out he'd built it anyway, that would be a different story. I just think you were equally responsible as he was for the communication breakdown, though I suspect he didn't want to talk to you because he was hiding the fact that he was proceeding without you, that doesn't absolve you of responsibility for at elast trying to contact him, several times.

In situations when I have had to work with a lawyer, they always ask: Did the client see this coming? Did they know you were continuing work/would be mailing them an invoice/were waiting for a response from them/stopping work until you recieved payment etc.? Silence is not an excuse for misunderstanding. We have sent letters saying "We expect payemtnor we will be contacting a lawyer" etc. - it's all about making people aware of what they are getting into, that way YOU have a strong legal basis for your claim that they ignored your contract requirements.

I'm rambling a bit and I do think it's a good idea for you to discuss this and get a handle on what other's points of view might be. I mean, after nine montsh, maybe the client thought YOU had abandoned the project, in which case proceeding without you might have been understandable? Just trhowing womething out there from his point of view...

Some of this depends on your original contract language. Most contracts allow either party to cancel, for any reason. Unless your contract specifically stated otherwise - AND your state's laws allow that - then the contract is considered to be "at will" and can be terminated by other party. You should have been informed of the client's decision to terminate the contract, preferably in writing. Since you weren't, you can legitimately bill the client for any work that you did complete. But you can't bill for work that you didn't.

As for the copyright issue: if they built your plans EXACTLY then you could have a case. But sadly most copyright cases involving architectural drawings don't work out in the architect's favor. Courts have actually ruled that changes as minor as "mirroring" part or all of the plan, changing the fenestration slightly, or slightly modifying the interior layout are all enough to make the design "differ significantly" from the original.

Be careful with any letters that state that you "will be contacting a lawyer." You should never state that unless you plan to follow through, because it can be turned around on you and used to substantiate a harrassment claim. Similarly, you shouldn't threaten to turn the matter over to a collection agent unless you plan to act on that.

I would make sure that your contract has a paragraph that clearly states how the contract can be terminated (for instance in writing, with some number of days notice) and that work completed up to that point will be billed in full. You should also stamp your drawings with a "copyrighted, do not duplicate" rubber stamp, in red. This won't really stop anyone from copying them or working from them if they're determined, but it does sometimes serve as an "early detection system" that the client has decided to dump you, because either the client may ask questions about the repurcusions of that, or the reprographics places and local building dept. people will occasinally call you if they see that.

anything under 3500 sqft in michigan, the contractor takes responsibility....

find out what they owe to you and approach them about it.... if nothing happens then approach the contractor and let him know.

a few bricks through the windows wont hurt either.......

clients are asses.....bty.......

i look at it this way....... if you have a product a person wants/needs...charge full price.....

architects get screwed over all the time..... time to take stand and get whats owed to you.......

b

can architects take out mechanic liens? if it does not state you cannot in the contract I believe that is a possible recourse without a lot of lawyer fees.

Architects can take out mechanic's liens in some states, though not most. But in those where it is possible the architect must generally be involved in the construction phases of the project - so in this case it probably is not possible anyway. It's possible to file a lien without a lawyer, but it's not a good idea. Be aware that, first, liens aren't really enforceable by themselves - they put a hold on the client's ability to sell the property, but to collect anything you still need to file a court case - and they expire eventually. So if you file a lien you have to have a plan to sue. Also, it's easy to file a lien - sometimes so easy that you can do it without really having the right to do it. Then what can happen is that if you're found to have filed wrongly (for instance because you weren't materially involved with the construction of the project) you can be held liable for any damages that the client sustains because of the lien (for example if the client is unable to sell the property because of the lien.) In the long run you could get into a much bigger financial mess than the outstanding bill is worth.

Wait a second... did you just (partially) agree with me, Libert Bell? Please, accept this (full) basket of fresh mini-muffins. And, I will agree (fully) with you, LB, that silence is not an action.

Also, Studio43 -- read carefully what Aluminate wrote. Finally, on future projects, if nothing else, remember in general that all successful Contract Administration requires 1). Regular contact, and 2). Lots of documenting. From the sound of things, you did neither.

This reminds me of that radio show where the standing premise is that "You Have No Case!"...

liberty bell said:

"I'm with rationalist on this one. You really shouldn't be paid for work you didn't do, and since you never completed the drawings, I don't think you necessarily deserve payment for that amount of work. My contracts state that the client can cancel the contract at any time and we will only be paid for work performed to that point. Of course every contract is different."

I beg to differ. Personally, I write a penalty into the contract if the client cancels - I want them to keep going on the project. Also, and especially, if the project is large, I may invest a lot into the premise that the project will continue (IE: hire employees, buy computers, rent office space, etc.)

A cancelled project can sink an office - therefore, to protect yourself, write in a penalty (percentage, or dollar ammt. it can change as the project progresses.) to the contract.

I don't want to let my clients out w/o a fight - hard enough to get anything built in the first place.

Oh, and to give my two cents to the thread, if you're paid for the work you've done, let it ride. If you haven't been paid for work you've done, take them to small claims over the unpaid work, and forget about them stealing the design. Next time, stay in closer contact, etc, as said above.

Duh, thought of something else - try negotiating with the client - tell him you'll drop everything if he'll give you half of what you're owed, etc. Maybe you'll get something yet.

I don't like doing the 'send an invoice every other week' thing - phone calls/face to face meetings work better. Pain to do though.

I have lived thought a similar experience- I when down to the city and looked and digitally copied the plans that were submitted for permitting- Wrote a certified letter to the client with a retune envelop and stamp-enclosed
At the bottom of the letter I cc: my attorney.
In the letter I stated that I was extremely glad they decided to used my schematic design package for their addition- identify the ideas that were proprietary and instruments of service exclusive to our agreements- I respectfully asked that I would be indemnified from any of the construction and execution of the design, since I was not being compensated for such tasks.
I explained the time and work executed to date and gave then the option of a payment plan.
They wrote back expressing their apologies and regrets that they couldn’t afford to pay the full amount of the fees as agreed in the contract, but they really wanted to do the addition- it took them 6 month to pay me, but they did and they even call to tell me that the addition was done and I was welcome to come see it-
choose you client wisely

unless you're broke, get over the money. yeah, it's a blow to your ego and your wallet. but: what you DO NOT WANT is ANY liability. your design was stolen, the contractor scrawled some shit on your design drawings and called it construction documentation when he went to the city.

get a copy of the permit app for your files -- these should be public records -- and go after the CONTRACTOR to get you copies of what s/he submitted.

otherwise wash your hands and shake the dust of this town from your feet as you leave...unless it turned out ok, at which time you take pix from the street and put it on your website.

I glad the responses have actually been helpful. I going to employ a paragraph in my future contracts of how a contract may be terminated. As well as a notification on the plans
I would gladly go to small claims court if it comes to it. Hopefully, it won't. I rather persuade the client to pay something.
The day I was tipped off about this I went to the permit office and filled out a freedom of information act form to get copies of my plans. Thats how I knew for sure thats what they used to get the permit.
Even if I don't get anything I learned a valuable lesson in this

in residential, with private clients, it's often beneficial to include an "exit clause" that allows either party to exit the contract without cause provided fourteen days' written notice is provided AND that, if it is the client pulling out, then the client is liable to the architect for all unpaid fees etc. this clause specifically states that the ARCHITECT owns the design and that the client CANNOT execute the design, or any part of it, without committing a copyright violation

any client who doesn't want this clause...don't work with them

the AIA contracts do not, in their boilerplate, include any clause like this -- so add it if you use their contracts

Studio43,

i'm sorry to hear this has happened to you. unfortunately it is a common story: they hire you to design something for them, drop you (perhaps without even knowing) and then take your design to someone else.

the important thing here is to protect yourself from this current situation. from what you've written am i correct in saying you never finished a permit set? go to the client have him sign off on forms indemnifying you from design problems, issues, incompleteness and any problems arising from building off these drawings. be explicit in the form that you prepared drawings for him, but they don't entail a complete, permit-ready set nor set of drawings to be built from. you don't want him to assume that what you provided was at all ready for construction or permit. note when you stopped acting on the job (last date of contact). i've heard of cases where the courts nailed the architect because a client & contractor built off of an incomplete set, but since the architect was the easiest person to be held financially accountable he suffered. have the client sign this form - regardless of whether or not he finishes paying you. as a friendly fyi, you may wantt to let the contractor know about the situation. so he is aware that the drawings he has aren't a permit nor construction set. afterall, if the client had such an underhanded approach with you, i wouldn't put it beneath him that he faked an architect-approved set for the contractor to build on. send him a bill for what you are owed up to the last date of contact.

next, chase down the permit drawings. if they've got your name, border, logo, etc., notify the building dept. immediately if these drawings weren't supposed to be submitted for permit. let them chase after the client.

if the client took your set, had someone else finish them and used this someone else to get a permit, well there's not much you can do except chase after copyright. i agree it is bad form for the client just to let your relationship dwindle like that and jump to all these conclusions. but you did let it slip for 9 months as well. i would drop it. there will be other, better designs in your future, ones that don't have the hassle of such a bad client.

for the future, establish an exit clause, as ochona has detailed. i would also include details on a billing & payment schedule, that non-payment after a certain time from billing will denote a party's desire to terminate the contract, as well as procedures for terminating the contract (i.e. one party will notify the other in writing). i would also, in your drawings itself, put in the border "PRELIMINARY - NOT FOR PERMIT OR CONSTRUCTION". only when you're ready for permit, change it to "PERMIT DRAWINGS - NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION". it'll help keep everyone on the straight and narrow as to what the drawings are for.

and for those that would simply take a bottle of white-out to this before happily delivering it to the building department - well, he's a crook then, plain and simple.

nine months?

wow dude, talk about absence of communication. make sure you won't be liable for the work you didn't do, and get paid for what you did. then let it go.

Make sure to have an attorney look at a draft of your contract template. Some of the things that have been suggested here - such as imposing a penalty if the client cancels the project or fires you, or billing for work that has not been completed - are not legal in some cases and in some states. A few hours of an attorney's time will help you sort out the state-specific intricacies and will also help with appropriate phrasing, etc.

I appreciate all comments. It is a learning experience. Even after doing this type of work as long as I have.
I think everyone has been in a situation where they think a client wouldn't end up being a deadbeat.

Nine months without any communication. I gotta say it isn't unusual. I had projects drag out for several years. I've had more than one client who will be gung-ho about a project, then for it to fizzle because a stock they had dropped or a couple just couldn't seem to agree about what their priorities were . I even had a client back out of a project because Clinton got elected.

I agree that I should have kept after them to see what is up with things. A simple phone call seems like it would have done alot of good

This was not a big project A small addition and renovation. I reorganized the interior to be much more livable. So I can't say I'm totally offended they used my design without consent. In fact it's a complement.
Ok, I can accept I had abandoned the project for more interesting work. But, I can't say I'm ok with them just taking my plan and making copies and distributing it, at it's conceptual level, then adding some notes and a detail to it and submitting it for a permit without my consent
I don't feel I ever lost my right to protect my work at some level.

I usually include info on my drawings like "prelimnary" "not for construction" just not on this project

Yes Rim I did agree with you, and not just partially, I think you gave good advice here. I don't hold grudges. Thanks for the mini-muffins, yum.

Good news. My check showed up yesterday.

To recap. My drawings were used without my permission at the conceptual level for a building permit.
I think it is important that we as architects understand what our rights are. Don't get taken adavantage of. I have now beefed up my contracts to hopefully prevent such a thing from happening again.
Thank you to everyone who responded

Good news Studio43! Can you expand a little: did you end up getting paid just for work you did, or also a penalty for the owner violating the contract and/or for using your drawings w/o permission, or would you rather not say?

i never weighed in on this one before because i was stumped by it. i've had a different issue, but one along the same lines.

first, i was fully paid.

the issue was that, after the client fired the first contractor, after i closed my own business and went to work for someone else, and after my involvement had shrunk to almost none, the client and new contractor changed and expanded the scope of the design considerably.

they didn't get a new permit. they didn't go back to the local architectural review board to update the approval. and they still are touting me as having been their architect. but the resulting design is not what i would have done at all. eek!

this might be old news and stated somewhere in the valuable posts here, but your state board of architects is another recourse of action and in my experience a great resource. they investigate issues such as this one and are advocates for architects in your state. in oregon, i've had very limited exposure to ORBAE (oregon board of architect examiners) but have read their meeting minutes. in those minutes are instances where persons of groups are using the title of architect illegally and issues exactly like this one. they investigate and hand down a rule. if it this particular issue findss the contractor at fault (for using copywritten material without permission), they could report said contractor to the authority having jurisdiction (usually the state board governing contractors).

another piece of advice which you are probably using now anyway but will state it still, is use a phone log and save email correspondence. you never know when you might need to pull something out to justify or prove your case.

also, i believe that B141 has a clause stating how the contract between architect and owner can terminate their contract. i think it's seven days written notice by either party.

i like the termination penalty.

velo -- that is a great idea: if payment is not received for an invoice by a certain date, then the contract is considered cancelled

studio43 -- good news on the check

on a tangential note, I think an almost larger issue here is the state of the permit approval process. If anyone can go and get a building permit from schematic drawings without an architect, then we will quickly be even more unnecessary to the building process. All of my non-architect friends who watch HGTV think they are experts on design and construction now, so we are quickly being viewed as a person needed for our "stamp" and thats it.

Getting paid for the work you do is definitely important, but demanding that architects are no longer undercut out of the process is even more important. I'm in the process of writing a contract now for a little job so this thread has been very helpful.

Liberty Bell I never really explained how much was at stake. I had a contract for alittle more than 2500. At the start I got about one third of that as a deposit. That was it. I had meant to bill again at the end of the design phase but it was never really completed. They had been asking for additional ideas for layouts of the renovated space. which I provided. Then as I explained in previous posts that the project fizzeled. Later I found out about the unauthorized use of my plans. When I talked with the owner about the breach of contract. I explained I felt I was owed the full remaining amount of the contract. I sent him a final bill for that amount and a check showed up about 30 days later. To me that is a penalty

studio-

glad to know it all worked out. these horror stories are why I don't want to do small projects. It's harder to have stuff spin out of control on a $4m design fee- many more checks and balances built into the bureaucracy and much more at stake. - hmm maybe I should go corporate....

then again, I glad that you've all taken the plunge into self determination and can share the lessons learned with us all.

Oh- best luck to LB in getting her goals accomplished!

We've had town officials call us to tell us that someone is trying to get a permit with our schematic drawings (that are usually stamped "not for construction".) Of course this can only happen if the title block has been left intact, which is not always the case. But the reason that they have done this is because the schematic sets have not had complete framing information and sections. If the projects are not so complex that the permit officer thinks there need to be detailed structural information - or if it is a town that's typically less stringent in requiring architect's or engineer's structural drawings, then we're not as likely to find out this way. We've also occasionally been contacted by reprographics places asking whether the client or contractor has our permission to copy drawings that are marked "do not duplicate."
Since most residential projects in most locales don't automatically require an architect, it's at the discretion of local officials whether or not to require an architect or engineer. Sometimes they don't care whether they have stamped drawings, if the project appears to be fairly simple.

Some other suggestions for writing contracts: you can encourage timely payments if you state in your contract that the client will be billed monthly throughout the course of the project, and you offer a small discount for very fast payment (like 5% off for payments received within 2 weeks). You can state that you'll add interest monthly on accounts that are delinquent by at least 30 days.
You should also be aware that even if you write these types of things in your contracts - or any other sort of cancellation or penalty clause - if you don't enforce it then you may be considered to have voided that clause. For example: if you say you're going to cancel the contract for failure to pay on time, but then you let the client slide for a month or two (or maybe you have a verbal conversation in which you agree that it's ok this time because the bill is small) then this can be construed as a cancelling of that clause by you, and can make it unenforcable later. So you have to make sure that if you include these types of clauses that you either don't allow any exceptions or that you document in writing that you're allowing the exception in this instance but will expect full payment (or will impose interest, or whatever the clause says) next month.

Given that you got paid, and you are not pursuing the matter further, this is moot, but...
you probably could sue the client for expectancy damages- the profit you would have made on the job if had been taken through completion. It may vary from state to state, and it may depend upon the exact language of the contract, but breach of contract usually means you are entitled to expectancy damages.
(Given the small nature of the job, it probably wouldn't be worth it.)

jbc
I think that in my particular case the client was being deliberate or premeditated. I think they used bad judgment thinking they could use my drawings for something they weren't intended for. I used bad judgment not staying in contact with them... If I sensed they deliberately set out to get something for nothing and my contract and drawings had more notification affixed to them maybe I would be seeking damages. At this point I'm satisfied with the outcome
For future work, your comments are duly noted.

Contracts were probably the thing I had the least exposure of during the 15 years with my old employer. Little by little I'm gaining more knowledge to prevent this sort of stuff.

Here's a short list :
All work requires a proposal/ contract
All contracts require a deposit prior to commencement of work
Have a billing schedule in contract
Have an exit or termination clause in contract
Inform the client of copyright protection. Drawings should include copyright notification

Studio, I'm glad that you finally got paid. Unfortunately some clients don't think much of architecture or design work.

I've worked for a firm that did many residential renovations. They had a lot of good and repeated clients, and bad ones. After a while the boss was more careful than to take work from anyone. If someone had interest in renovating or rebuilding their home, he'd sit with them in an informal interview to get the sense of what they'd like done, intentions, seriousness, capacity & overall vibe from the client. He wasn't afraid to kindly decline their work if he felt they would be bad clients.

I'd approach any and all clients in a professional manner and make it clear to the client that I'd expect the same, regardless of whether they are new to this process or have a lot on the go. Treat it with the seriousness and importance that the job entails and the client will get the idea. I'd also ensure within the contract a clear scope of work is stated, what the client will receive in the end (paper drawings, CAD drawings). Depending on what types of clients you get you may want to vary from a lump-sum contract to one that is based on the hours you work or number of meetings you have with them. I don't say this to be mean, but a lot of clients don't know what they want. Which is fine, that's why you're there. But some can be very indecisive and take you on a long ride.

Velo
I've had many more good clients than bad. Usually, when the client gets flaky it's coincidently a project that was based on a handshake or a poorly prepared agreement. I've gotten better at writing my contracts. Still some projects slip thru the cracks