has anyone had to fire a project consultant and gotten into arguments or litigation about what they are owed? I had to fire an unresponsive consultant and they are trying to bill me and the client an egregious amount.
I am just starting out as a solo practitioner and these kinds of disputes give me a lot of stress because I think about the potential for a lawsuit or something. Because I am solo practitioner I think I look like an easier target to bully than a larger firm.
Any good stories or perspective along these lines, or stories about dealing more generally with bad consultants?
SneakyPete
Nov 27, 22 12:04 pm
Say no. Wait for the lawsuit.
thisisnotmyname
Nov 27, 22 6:31 pm
We have recently had similar issues and our effort to mitigate has been to add supplements to the standard AIA Architect-Consultant contract. We write in very specific lists of deliverables and related due dates along with requirements that the consultants perform quality control on their stuff and format their drawings in way that matches ours. Failure to perform any of these will give us grounds for termination and we have a paper trail to establish proof of non-performance.
Sadly, I've found It's all too common for engineers to over-bill their clients and I'm not surprised that your person tried to invoice you a huge amount of money for doing little to no work.
kjpn
Nov 28, 22 5:51 pm
This is helpful to know, I agree being really specific about deliverables is the best approach
… thank you.
luvu
Nov 27, 22 7:23 pm
" I had to fire an unresponsive consultant and they are trying to bill me and the client an egregious amount "
Surely they can only bill one of parties not both ?
kjpn
Nov 28, 22 5:51 pm
Yes but they are trying to entangle my client into the situation since they have their contact info. I’m sure it doesn’t matter since I am the only signatory on our previous
contract.
bennyc
Nov 27, 22 8:00 pm
He is your consultant, so at the end of the day, you should manage how they deliver to you, schedule and quality. I am a sole practitioner as well and have had to withhold payments, yell on the phone, and just ruin relationships until you find the right one or learn how to be a better architect and make sure you set deadlines, clear contracts, and clear deliverables.
Always best to communicate clearly, or even come to a trade off agreement for services as opposed to go to litigation or any type of arbitration where you are wasting your time and efforts and dealing with lawyers.
kjpn
Nov 28, 22 5:54 pm
Hi Benny, this isn’t a situation where I am to blame. The consultant is simply acting in bad faith. I learned I can’t force someone to be responsive or do quality work that
doesn’t want to.
Chad Miller
Nov 29, 22 9:50 am
We've had to fire consultants. The simplest way is to explain why and pay them for the work they've done up to that point. Like the OP I've experienced one consultant try to to bill for more than they've actually done. When pressed to show that they had done the work the consultant backed off.
has anyone had to fire a project consultant and gotten into arguments or litigation about what they are owed? I had to fire an unresponsive consultant and they are trying to bill me and the client an egregious amount.
I am just starting out as a solo practitioner and these kinds of disputes give me a lot of stress because I think about the potential for a lawsuit or something. Because I am solo practitioner I think I look like an easier target to bully than a larger firm.
Any good stories or perspective along these lines, or stories about dealing more generally with bad consultants?
Say no. Wait for the lawsuit.
We have recently had similar issues and our effort to mitigate has been to add supplements to the standard AIA Architect-Consultant contract. We write in very specific lists of deliverables and related due dates along with requirements that the consultants perform quality control on their stuff and format their drawings in way that matches ours. Failure to perform any of these will give us grounds for termination and we have a paper trail to establish proof of non-performance.
Sadly, I've found It's all too common for engineers to over-bill their clients and I'm not surprised that your person tried to invoice you a huge amount of money for doing little to no work.
This is helpful to know, I agree being really specific about deliverables is the best approach
… thank you.
" I had to fire an unresponsive consultant and they are trying to bill me and the client an egregious amount "
Surely they can only bill one of parties not both ?
Yes but they are trying to entangle my client into the situation since they have their contact info. I’m sure it doesn’t matter since I am the only signatory on our previous
contract.
He is your consultant, so at the end of the day, you should manage how they deliver to you, schedule and quality. I am a sole practitioner as well and have had to withhold payments, yell on the phone, and just ruin relationships until you find the right one or learn how to be a better architect and make sure you set deadlines, clear contracts, and clear deliverables.
Always best to communicate clearly, or even come to a trade off agreement for services as opposed to go to litigation or any type of arbitration where you are wasting your time and efforts and dealing with lawyers.
Hi Benny, this isn’t a situation where I am to blame. The consultant is simply acting in bad faith. I learned I can’t force someone to be responsive or do quality work that
doesn’t want to.
We've had to fire consultants. The simplest way is to explain why and pay them for the work they've done up to that point. Like the OP I've experienced one consultant try to to bill for more than they've actually done. When pressed to show that they had done the work the consultant backed off.