i worked for an older architect (just the 2 of us), basically took over running his office as his health declined. things had slowed down a lot and we were basically left doing small remodels. unfortunately he passed away suddenly and now im stuck as the point man for a commercial project that is 80% built, with no idea what to do next. i was basically running the project anyway and am very familiar w it, but now what???? obviously we have a permit, but there have been revisions and the g702 is waiting to be signed!!
if i understand the law correctly the project must be taken over by another architect who would then assume all liability for the project. i have spoken to some other architects and so far none have been willing to assume the responsibility. office is to small to entice anyone to take over the projects. anybody have advice as to how i can/should proceed? client is freaking out, im freaking out, help!!
yikes...that's a tough spot to be in. aside from friends/peers that steven mentioned it might be worth seeing if he left a will with any instructions upon death. a savvy business owner should meet with his attorneys, financial planners, etc. to have a transistion plan in place should he die. sadly, that's not always the case.
Definitely talk to your local AIA office, someone in leadership. It's critical to understand your relationship to the firm, legally speaking. I wouldn't do anything until I'd talked with someone qualified to assess the situation... like, say, a lawyer.
Without knowing any more about the facts of this situation, I am going to make the following assumptions: 1) you are (were) an employee of the firm and did not have any ownership share; 2) you are not a licensed architect in the jurisdiction of the particular project that you have identified. If either of these assumptions is incorrect, then some of the following suggestions will be potentially invalid.
If you are not licensed, you should certainly avoid signing anything or making any decisions on the project as you are not legally entitled to do so. You should also inform the client immediately so that they do not proceed under the assumption that YOU are the new responsible architect on the job. In reality, it is probably not your responsibility to find a new architect for the client. They probably have to do that on their own. However, your help would be appreciated, I'm sure. Just be careful how you represent yourself and avoid taking action on any of your former bosses on-going projects unless you are legally entitled, and willing, to do so.
As an employee of the firm, you are probably out of a job. However, did you deceased boss have any family survivors? What IS the transition plan for the firm? Was there a silent partner that might now step in, legally, and keep the firm open? As citizen states above, a lawyer will probably need to be involved, but if you are/were only an employee, it is not your duty or responsibility to figure this out. You should probably be finding another job.
this is a too common scenario, with the principal of small firms getting incapacitated or ill leaving junior folks in a major lurch like this.
the principal of one of the firms affiliated with my office recently was diagnosed with leukemia. Luckily his brother is a licensed architect and was able to jump in to keep that firm afloat. But this is not often the way things work.
bit of a tangent, and i know everybody hates life insurance salespeople...but if you own a business you really should look into policies. the example above is probably a sole proprietor but even if you have partners you should consider strategies such as buy-sell agreements. i'm not an expert on this stuff...but it's worth looking into.
ive heard of some clients getting engineers to take over a project after an accident to architect. but those were small projects, not sure what your case might be.
I'm glad to hear you said worked for and Architect.....cause now your on your own bud. I had an electrical contractor kick the bucket on me a few years ago before the project was complete. When he went
ill I told the General Contractor he should have someone in place and
the ole GC went along as if nothing was ever mentioned. The contractors son's picking up where dad left off. The project was pretty far down the pike. So we get to the end of the project client moves in and immediately we have problems with how the electrical panel is marked and with the door bell system which is complicated as all get out. So I call the GC and get little response. I start looking into how to contact the sons and low and behold no one alive has a current electrical license. So I tell the building committee we need to have a licensed electrical contractor go thru the project an
certify that it is correctly wired and check every thing they can. The bill comes to the tune of about $15,000. So we backcharge the GC
and of course he comes out swinging with his Lawyer in pocket. I might add a strong headed lawyer, who want to eat me for dinner.
So be careful, you could get yourself into a real mess. Oh by the
way the contractor...never did get his money.
Something like this happened to me, in a small manufacturing business, in 1983. Four senior employees, including yours truly, got the news on a Monday morning that the owner/sole proprietor had a stroke on Saturday night and was gone. The pal who was drinking with him that night, a lawyer, stepped in and shepherded us through a year of keeping the business -- a rapidly-growing table-top woodenware maker, doing the boss's own designs and just getting into Macy's and Williams Sonoma -- going, through the upcoming trade show, the evaluation of worth of the business, a group effort to buy the business from his heir (a sister living in France) and the eventual buy-out by two of the group willing to take it forward. The company still exists. . .
Feb 19, 08 12:40 am ·
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death of an architect
i worked for an older architect (just the 2 of us), basically took over running his office as his health declined. things had slowed down a lot and we were basically left doing small remodels. unfortunately he passed away suddenly and now im stuck as the point man for a commercial project that is 80% built, with no idea what to do next. i was basically running the project anyway and am very familiar w it, but now what???? obviously we have a permit, but there have been revisions and the g702 is waiting to be signed!!
if i understand the law correctly the project must be taken over by another architect who would then assume all liability for the project. i have spoken to some other architects and so far none have been willing to assume the responsibility. office is to small to entice anyone to take over the projects. anybody have advice as to how i can/should proceed? client is freaking out, im freaking out, help!!
where are you?
if you're in the u.s., talk to the leadership of your local aia chapter. they might be able to lead you to someone willing to get involved.
didn't this architect have any peers/friends who would understand the situation?
yikes...that's a tough spot to be in. aside from friends/peers that steven mentioned it might be worth seeing if he left a will with any instructions upon death. a savvy business owner should meet with his attorneys, financial planners, etc. to have a transistion plan in place should he die. sadly, that's not always the case.
Definitely talk to your local AIA office, someone in leadership. It's critical to understand your relationship to the firm, legally speaking. I wouldn't do anything until I'd talked with someone qualified to assess the situation... like, say, a lawyer.
Without knowing any more about the facts of this situation, I am going to make the following assumptions: 1) you are (were) an employee of the firm and did not have any ownership share; 2) you are not a licensed architect in the jurisdiction of the particular project that you have identified. If either of these assumptions is incorrect, then some of the following suggestions will be potentially invalid.
If you are not licensed, you should certainly avoid signing anything or making any decisions on the project as you are not legally entitled to do so. You should also inform the client immediately so that they do not proceed under the assumption that YOU are the new responsible architect on the job. In reality, it is probably not your responsibility to find a new architect for the client. They probably have to do that on their own. However, your help would be appreciated, I'm sure. Just be careful how you represent yourself and avoid taking action on any of your former bosses on-going projects unless you are legally entitled, and willing, to do so.
As an employee of the firm, you are probably out of a job. However, did you deceased boss have any family survivors? What IS the transition plan for the firm? Was there a silent partner that might now step in, legally, and keep the firm open? As citizen states above, a lawyer will probably need to be involved, but if you are/were only an employee, it is not your duty or responsibility to figure this out. You should probably be finding another job.
this is a too common scenario, with the principal of small firms getting incapacitated or ill leaving junior folks in a major lurch like this.
the principal of one of the firms affiliated with my office recently was diagnosed with leukemia. Luckily his brother is a licensed architect and was able to jump in to keep that firm afloat. But this is not often the way things work.
good luck and my condolences...
bit of a tangent, and i know everybody hates life insurance salespeople...but if you own a business you really should look into policies. the example above is probably a sole proprietor but even if you have partners you should consider strategies such as buy-sell agreements. i'm not an expert on this stuff...but it's worth looking into.
ive heard of some clients getting engineers to take over a project after an accident to architect. but those were small projects, not sure what your case might be.
good luck.
I'm glad to hear you said worked for and Architect.....cause now your on your own bud. I had an electrical contractor kick the bucket on me a few years ago before the project was complete. When he went
ill I told the General Contractor he should have someone in place and
the ole GC went along as if nothing was ever mentioned. The contractors son's picking up where dad left off. The project was pretty far down the pike. So we get to the end of the project client moves in and immediately we have problems with how the electrical panel is marked and with the door bell system which is complicated as all get out. So I call the GC and get little response. I start looking into how to contact the sons and low and behold no one alive has a current electrical license. So I tell the building committee we need to have a licensed electrical contractor go thru the project an
certify that it is correctly wired and check every thing they can. The bill comes to the tune of about $15,000. So we backcharge the GC
and of course he comes out swinging with his Lawyer in pocket. I might add a strong headed lawyer, who want to eat me for dinner.
So be careful, you could get yourself into a real mess. Oh by the
way the contractor...never did get his money.
Something like this happened to me, in a small manufacturing business, in 1983. Four senior employees, including yours truly, got the news on a Monday morning that the owner/sole proprietor had a stroke on Saturday night and was gone. The pal who was drinking with him that night, a lawyer, stepped in and shepherded us through a year of keeping the business -- a rapidly-growing table-top woodenware maker, doing the boss's own designs and just getting into Macy's and Williams Sonoma -- going, through the upcoming trade show, the evaluation of worth of the business, a group effort to buy the business from his heir (a sister living in France) and the eventual buy-out by two of the group willing to take it forward. The company still exists. . .
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