Legal Information

Architect Your Home Ltd – Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions apply to all Services provided by us, Architect Your Home Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under number 05836537, whose registered address is Third Floor, Gable House, 18 -24 Turnham Green Terrace, London, England, W4 1QP (referred to as “we/us/our”).

However, if you wish for your Designated Architect to provide architectural services for a fully designed building, we will formalise our appointment by way of the RIBA Standard Professional Services Contract 2020 (including the latest amendments) for the appointment of an Architect at the earliest opportunity, and in no case later than the commencement of RIBA Work Stage 4. In this event, the RIBA Contract will take precedence over these Terms and Conditions.

Definitions and
- In these Terms and Conditions, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings:

“Consumer” is as defined in the Consumer Rights Act 2015;

“Contract” means the contract formed upon your acceptance of our Order Form, as detailed in clause 2;

“Client/You/Your” means you, the Consumer, local authority, business or other corporate body entering into the Contract with us;

“Customer Portal” means an on-line facility, intended to be private to the Client and the Architect and the Company, which is password protected and where Client and the Designated Architect and the Company can communicate, and project information is shared and stored as a project record;

“Order Form” means our estimate for providing the Services and includes the Client’s target cost for the works as specified in the Post Initial Design Consultation Project Brief which, unless otherwise stated, remains open for acceptance for a period of 30 days) and together with the agreed brief, constitutes our entire scope of works;

“CDM” means the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and any guidance as issued, amended or replaced from time to time by the Health and Safety Executive, which govern the management of health, safety and welfare for construction projects;

“Designated Architect” means the person or company who is a fully qualified professional registered with the Architects Registration Board (ARB) and whose name and address is to be provided to you as agreed by the parties to provide the Services to you on behalf of us; and

“Services” means the architectural services to be provided by the designated architect on our behalf to you as detailed in our Order Form, further description of each service is as outlined in the Services Menu, a copy of which can be provided at request.

Each reference in these Terms and Conditions to:
- “writing” and “written” includes emails;
- a statute or provision of a statute refers to that statute or provision as amended or re-enacted at the relevant time;
- “Terms and Conditions” refers to these Terms and Conditions as may be amended or supplemented at the relevant time;
- a clause refers to a clause of these Terms and Conditions;
- “party/parties” refer to the parties to these Terms and Conditions;
- any reference to a party includes its employees, agents and sub-contractors.
The headings used in these Terms and Conditions are for convenience only and will have no effect on their interpretation.
Words imparting the singular number include the plural and vice versa. References to persons include corporations.

How the Contract is Formed

We will provide you with access to our online Customer Portal which is password protected, in order to book your initial design consultation, maintain communication with us, and manage the Services including those suggested after the initial design consultation.
We will then provide you with a Order Form for the Services you have requested, based on the brief agreed between you and the designated architect which will also be set out in writing. This will include contact details of your Designated Architect.
A legally binding Contract will be created between you and us when you accept our Order Form, electronically or otherwise. The Contract will incorporate, and be subject to, these Terms and Conditions. Before accepting our Order Form, please ensure that you have read these Terms and Conditions carefully.
No terms or conditions issued or referred to by you in any form will in any way vary or add to these Terms and Conditions unless we agree otherwise in writing.
Our Order Form is based on the information provided to us at the time we prepare it. If any errors or discrepancies become evident, we reserve the right to adjust it.
You acknowledge that we are acting on the Designated Architect’s behalf as their agent and cannot be responsible for any errors incurred by them in relation to the Services.

The Services

Your Designated Architect will provide you with the agreed Services as set out in our Order Form, including the specified number of design, layout and/or sketch plan options in line with the stages necessary for the works. If you require additional options, if you wish to change the brief, or if you require any changes after you have approved your preferred option(s), this will incur additional costs at the rates set out in the Order Form.
We may also charge additional costs if you ask us to work outside of our normal working hours (Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm excluding bank holidays) where we are able to accommodate this, or if you require additional visits to the property, above the number we have included for in the Order Form.
We will keep you informed of progress throughout the provision of the Services, including where any information, decision, issue or action may result in delays or changes to the project. However, any timescales we provide are for guidance only and are not of the essence of the Contract.
If we provide sketches to you, please note that these are intended for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to provide an exact specification. They cannot be used to gain (or attempt to gain) planning permission and they cannot be relied on for building purposes.
We may recommend contractors and consultants, however no such recommendations will be binding on you and the ultimate decision regarding their suitability for the project rests with you. A separate contractual relationship will be formed between you and all third-party contractors and consultants and under no circumstances will we be liable for their actions, lack of actions, competence, products or solvency.
You will be responsible for making planning applications and building control submissions, unless otherwise agreed by us. Please note that submission is not a guarantee of acceptance by the relevant approving body, and we cannot be held responsible for planning permission or building control timescales, delays, outcomes or changes requested. If you require us to liaise with planning or building control departments, we will charge for our time in doing so. If amendments are made to the original brief due, for example, to false or inaccurate information, this may affect your application. Any costs for the application fees are excluded from our Order Form and you will need to pay these directly.
Should you choose not to engage your designated architect during the construction phase of the Services, you will need to engage competent person(s) to undertake the remainder of the Services, and we will not be responsible for any failure by you to do . Please be advised that should you opt to not take the designated architect forward for site based services, to obtain building control sign off you may need the architect to sign the design stage of works regardless of whether the works have been undertaken in accordance with the packages provided. If the architect has not supervised the works it is at their discretion to provide the signature to get building control sign off without due renumeration and costs for inspection.
We are not cost consultants and do not offer cost advice. Where we or your designated architect discusses potential costs with you these discussions will be limited and therefore our recommendation is to engage with a qualified and competent quantity surveyor as soon as possible in order to build a cost plan for your project so that we can manage the design and costs together as the project progresses. Cost advice needs to occur before a submission of planning so that the design can be altered if necessary prior to a legal consent being granted. Design and details can be developed with your designated architect.
You must not start work on the property until planning has been approved and/or the building control drawings have been submitted or passed as applicable, however we cannot guarantee approval of such and our fees will remain payable. We are not liable for any issues where this clause is not complied with.
If we are asked to work from drawings or documentation provided by others, you warrant that we have permission to use these and we will not be responsible for any issues with them or for verifying whether the information is correct or not, nor for correcting any errors incurred as a result of any incorrect information.
We will provide all designs, plans and models digitally, in PDF format or such other format as set out in the Order Form only. If you require printed versions, or an alternative file format, this will be chargeable. We cannot be held responsible for any changes you or any other party makes to the designs and plans.
We include for a set amount of minor revisions to the initial design as detailed in the Order Form, and we must be notified of this within 14 days. Any further or more significant revisions, or those outside of the timescale, will be chargeable. If you are unsure whether your required revision would be considered significant, please contact us for clarification.
Where any alterations are made to the property following our survey, these alterations will not be shown on the drawings and therefore the drawings may not be accurate.
We cannot be held responsible for the construction of the project and it is essential that your chosen contractors understand all specialist manufacturer instructions, building regulations, and any other relevant information.
We cannot guarantee or accept responsibility for any variations in the planning or build cost. We will not verify whether or not information provided by you or third parties on your behalf is correct. We may provide professional advice and recommendations in relation to the Services, such as scale, dimensions and the suitability of materials, however this is for guidance only and we cannot accept responsibility for any actions taken as a result of such advice or recommendations. Further, we shall not be liable for any consequences should any professional advice not be .
We cannot be held responsible for third party suppliers and items specified in good faith in the event of a third party supplier making false statements.

Your Responsibilities

You agree to provide us, free of charge, with any and all information relating to the Services as we may reasonably need, in a timely manner. We will be entitled to rely on the information you have provided. If any information you have given us changes or is found to be incorrect, we reserve the right to charge if this will result in additional works.
You are responsible for giving us the decisions, approvals and consents we may need to provide our Services.
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (“CDM 2015”) apply to all construction works, including domestic projects, and you must be aware that you may have a responsibility under these regulations for the appointment of Designers, the Principal Designer and the Principal Contractor. The Principal Designer is responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the Pre-Construction Health and Safety Information. We never act as Principal Contractor in the full sense of CDM requirements. The definitions of Designer, Principal Designer and Principal Contractor are as they are defined in CDM 2015.
You will need to ensure that the Designated Architect can gain access to the property, and all parts of it that we may need to survey, on the agreed dates and at the agreed times. 48 hours’ notice is required if the agreed day or time is to be changed. If less than 48 hours’ notice is received, we reserve the right to charge for the aborted visit and for any costs incurred.
You are required to make arrangements with and make payments to all alternative third parties, including any consultants (unless from our designated pool of trusted partners) or contractors, and hold them responsible for the competence and delivery of their own works. You are also required to ensure they cooperate fully with us and promptly provide us with any and all information as we may reasonably need to provide the Services. We cannot be held responsible for any delays incurred by any failure to do this.
You agree to keep us informed about any changes to the project that may affect our Services and/or any application we have submitted on your behalf. It is your responsibility to ensure that you (and your chosen contractor(s) where applicable) follow the specification set out in any approved application, as any changes may result in the approval being revoked.

Price and Payment

We may request a deposit payment upon acceptance of the Order Form, and will be unable to start the works until such deposit has been paid, unless otherwise agreed. The deposit is 40% of the fee due at the start of that stage.
We will invoice at the end of each month against the proportion of the design stage completed, unless otherwise stated in the Order Form. If we are delayed in completing any design stage through no fault of our own, we reserve the right to invoice for it in full.
We reserve the right to request 100% of the quoted fee up front at our sole discretion and will specify this in the Proposal.
All invoices are payable in full, in pounds sterling, within 5 days from the date of invoice, without set-off, withholding or deduction.

All prices quoted are exclusive of VAT, where applicable.
All payments made will go through a payment gateway provider, such as GoCardless. No credit or debit card information is provided to us, and completion of the transaction will be subject to you agreeing to GoCardless’s terms and conditions. A separate contractual relationship will be created between you and GoCardless and we cannot be held liable for any errors, actions, omissions or incorrect charges that may be made by them.
You will be required to set up a direct debit via the above payment gateway provider upon your acceptance of the Order Form.
We may, at our own discretion, accept payment by credit card. Please note that American Express cards shall not be accepted as a payment method.
Where applicable, and as indicated in the Order Form, fees may be subject to review and/or conﬁrmation following the outcome of a design stage. For instance, the fees for building control may need to be revised following planning consent if the planning permission scheme has changed from what was initially expected. These fee amounts are an estimate and are reliant upon the outcome of applications, local authority feedback, and other such circumstances. Your designated architect will use all reasonable endeavours to inform you of any additional charges as soon as they are discovered to be necessary.
Where time charges are quoted for a project, these may be subject to changes to suit market fluctuations in the event that the project duration exceeds 18 months.
You will be required to pay for additional expenses, such as mileage and printing costs. We reserve the right to revise all prices in relation to the Services every 12 months and will always endeavour to inform you of any such revisions as soon as is reasonably possible.
All payment plans are the sole discretion of your designated architect. Should you require a more detailed explanation of the fees payable for the Services, you must contact your designated architect with the contact details provided to you.
Unless otherwise stated, the following Services are excluded from the Order Form: any design changes requested by you or any planner or third party after submission, the sign-off of planning conditions, party wall matters, cost consultancy, legal consents such as freeholder consents, structural engineering, mechanical and electrical services, services relating to works at the property, contract administration, third party fees, expenses and disbursements.
We will endeavour to work in line with any estimated timescales. However, if the necessary works exceed this estimate, then we reserve the right to charge for them at the rates set out in the Order Form or otherwise specified.
We also reserve the right to charge for mileage, travel expenses and any travelling time to attend the property and meetings, together with disbursements for costs such as printing costs, binding, presentation boards and maps.
We will be happy to consider entering into collateral warranties, subject to agreement of cost and wording. Any collateral warranty(s) given by us, or any other separate agreement, will become null and void if payment is not made in accordance with this clause 5.
If you do not make payment to us by the due date, we reserve the right to suspend the Services, withhold documentation, and charge you interest on the overdue sum at the rate of 8% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from time to time in force, together with our reasonable costs incurred in recovering the overdue sum. Interest will accrue on a daily basis from the due date for payment until the actual date of payment of the overdue sum, both before and after judgment.

Cancellation Within the Cooling Off Period

If you are a Consumer, you have a statutory right to a “cooling off” period. This period begins once the Contract between you and us is formed and ends at the end of 14 calendar days after that date. If you wish to cancel the Contract within the cooling off period, you should inform us immediately by post or email. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your cancellation notice before the cancellation period has expired. If you do so, we will refund any sums paid to us under the Contract within 14 days (except where we have already commenced the Services upon written request by you), using the same method you used to make payment, unless you request otherwise.

Cancellation After the Cooling Off Period and for Business Clients

After the expiry of the cooling off period set out in clause 6.1 or if you are not a Consumer, you are required to provide us with a minimum of 14 days’ written notice if you wish to cancel the Contract. In the event of cancellation, we will invoice you for the Services provided up to the date of cancellation. Upon receipt of payment, we will hand over all works completed by us up to the date of cancellation in relation to the Contract.
Either party may cancel the Contract immediately if the other:
has committed a material breach of this Contract, unless such breach is capable of remedy, in which case this right to terminate will be exercisable if the other party has failed to remedy the breach within 30 days after a written notice to do so; or
goes into bankruptcy or liquidation either voluntary or compulsory (save for the purposes of bona fide corporate reconstruction or amalgamation) or if a receiver is appointed in respect of the whole or any part of its assets.
Both parties may terminate the Contract at any time by providing 14 days written notice to the other. If at the cancellation date we have provided Services that you have not yet paid for, we will invoice you for those sums and you will be required to make payment in accordance with clause 5. If you have paid for Services that we have not yet provided, we will refund such sums within 14 days.
Your designated architect may suspend performance of the specified service and its obligations under the Contract by giving 7 days written notice to you where deemed reasonably necessary as a result o failure to comply with any CDM regulations by you (where applicable).
Cancellation of the Contract for any reason will not affect the rights and liabilities of the parties already accrued at that time, and any clauses that are stated to continue in force after termination will not be affected.

Intellectual Property Rights

The Designated Architect will own (and retain) all intellectual property rights subsisting in any and all drawings, documents and other material produced by them.
Provided you make payment to us in full under the Contract, we will grant to you on the Designated Architect’s behalf a license to use the material produced for you, only in relation to construction of the project or for the property’s subsequent use or sale. You may not use it in any other way or for any other purpose without our written permission.
You may copy or use the material set out in clause 8.2, or you may permit your chosen contractor(s) to copy or use the material for their provision of the services in connection with the project. You may not otherwise sub-licence these intellectual property rights without our prior written permission.
The licence will apply only to the final material created and will not extend to any concepts, sketches, images, draft designs or other material viewed by you. These cannot be used without our express written permission.
CAD drawing ﬁles (such as .dwg and .dxf etc) will not be issued and do not form part of the Order Form. If, at our sole discretion, we agree to release a CAD copy of any architectural drawing or document, this does not imply the granting of a licence and may be subject to further fees.
You are not entitled to register, or permit any third party to register, our designs or other material (or any part of them).
We cannot be held liable for any use of the drawings, documents or other material we provide, except for the purpose for which they were prepared.
We reserve the right to take such actions as may be appropriate to restrain or prevent infringement of our intellectual property rights.
Any licence granted will be automatically revoked if you breach any of these Terms and Conditions or if the Contract is cancelled.
You warrant that any drawing, document, instruction or other material you supply to us will not cause us to infringe any intellectual property rights of yours or any third party. You will indemnify us against all loss, damages, costs and expenses awarded against or incurred by us in settlement of any claim for any such infringement.
We reserve the right to:
- erect signage relating to our business outside the Premises for the duration of the Services;
- use any material created by us;
- take photographs of the property; and
- share any testimonials by you
- for our own promotional purposes, and all intellectual property rights subsisting in them shall belong to us and your designated architect (where applicable). Please advise us when accepting our Order Form if you do not agree to this.

Our Liability

We will be responsible for any foreseeable loss or damage that you may suffer as a result of our breach of these Terms and Conditions or as a result of our negligence. Loss or damage is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence of our breach or negligence or if it is contemplated by you and us when the Contract is created.
We will not be responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable or falls beyond the scope of our control in relation to the project, or has been incurred by the negligence of your designated architect.
We will not be liable to you for any indirect or consequential losses including, but not limited to, any loss of profit, loss of business, interruption to business or loss of any business opportunity.
We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage incurred as a result of any inaccuracy, mis-description or any other error in the information supplied by you.
In any event, except as set out in clause 9.5, our maximum liability to you for loss or damage will not exceed £50,000 in respect of any one occurrence or series of occurrences arising out of one event, unless otherwise disclosed by .
We cannot be held liable for any third parties that are engaged as consultants for the project for their failure to deliver on their requirements. All third parties will be engaged independently of this agreement.
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions seeks to exclude or limit our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence (including that of our employees, agents or sub-contractors), or for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
Nothing in these Terms and Conditions seeks to exclude or limit your legal rights as a Consumer, where applicable. For more details on your legal rights, please refer to your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau or Trading Standards Office.
Should you require evidence of the insurance held by your designated architect, you will need to contact them using the details provided by us.

Events Outside of Our Control (Force Majeure): We will not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations where that failure or delay results from any cause that is beyond our reasonable control. Such causes include, but are not limited to: power failure, internet service provider failure, industrial action, civil unrest, fire, flood, storms, earthquakes, acts of terrorism or war, governmental action, epidemic or other natural disaster, or any other event that is beyond our control.

Complaints and Feedback

We will comply with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Architects Registration Board (ARB) Code of Conducts in all our dealings with you.
We welcome feedback from our Clients and, whilst we always use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that your experience as a Client of ours is a positive one, we nevertheless want to hear from you if you have any cause for complaint. If you wish to complain about any aspect of your dealings with us, please contact us in writing in the first instance so we can investigate. We will respond to your complaint within 14 days. Any dispute can be escalated using the RIBA Mediation Service or the RIBA Adjudication Scheme where necessary. Should the need arise you may request a copy of our formal dispute resolution procedure from the Head Office team.

How We Use Your Personal Information: Both parties agree to comply with the provisions of the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and any subsequent amendments to them.

Other Important Terms

We will be free to sub-contract any of our obligations under these Terms and Conditions provided that any and all sub-contractors are reasonably skilled in the relevant practices and provided that no additional charges are passed on to you. We will be responsible for each act and omission of any sub-contractor as if it were an act or omission of ours.
We may transfer (assign or novate) our obligations and rights under these Terms and Conditions (and under the Contract, as applicable) to a third party (this may happen, for example, if we sell our business). If this occurs you will be informed by us in writing. Your rights under these Terms and Conditions will not be affected and our obligations under these Terms will be transferred to the third party who will remain bound by them.
You may not transfer (assign or novate) your obligations and rights under these Terms and Conditions (and under the Contract, as applicable) without our express written permission.
If any of the provisions of these Terms and Conditions are found to be unlawful, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by any court or other authority, that/those provision(s) will be deemed severed from the remainder of these Terms and Conditions and the remainder will be valid and enforceable.
No failure or delay by us in exercising any of our rights under these Terms and Conditions means that we have waived that right, and no waiver by us of a breach of any provision of these Terms and Conditions means that we will waive any subsequent breach of the same or any other provision.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and Conditions (and the Contract), including any non-contractual matters and obligations arising from them or associated with them, will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England and Wales.
Any dispute, controversy, proceedings or claim between us and you relating to these Terms and Conditions (or the Contract) (including any non-contractual matters and obligations arising from them or associated with them) will fall within the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

Application

These terms apply for all services agreed after 31 July 2024. For services agreed before that time please contact the Head Office team for a copy of previous Terms.

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