Architect threatening to take me to court for not hiring her

[msangha80]

Hi all

 

We were planning extension to our house and found some architects online and contacted them for the survey and what is possible in terms of extension.

 

Now i've had 4 architects in my home for the initial survey and mock drawings but i havent signed contract with any of them. The initial visit/survey to the house is like an opportunity to asses the work and then quote. Now when i refused this one architect, she is retrospectively asking me to pay for her survey and drawings even though i haven't used her drawings at all. She says i agreed to a price on the phone, which is like when someone tells you this is how much it is going to cost you if you hire my services. What i told her was that i'm ok with the prices you are quoting but i have to see the drawings before hiring your services.

 

Now she is sending threatening emails of taking me to court and harassing me unnecessarily. Fact is that i never signed any contract nor did i agree to hiring her in anyway. In fact we are still looking at options to extend our house.

 

Can someone please advise how can i report this architect for unethical, unprofessional conduct and deliberate harassment? Can she actually file a case against me even though i have not agreed to a contract verbally, via email or signed any papers ?

 

I'm really stressed out. Please help.

 

Regards

MS

Edited November 30, 2014 by msangha80

[renegadeimp]

No proof = goodbye claim

[BazzaS]

No proof = goodbye claim

 

Yet, a contract can be verbal.

 

If the architect can demonstrate that her normal business practice is to only do initial work for an agreed fee, and she maintains she agreed such a fee, then she may be able to successfully claim.

Any claim would be assess under 'balance of probabilities", and if she can show (on balance) that that is her practice - a court may be persuaded that that is what she did.

[renegadeimp]

It can be verbal but without evidence it's a nonstarter

[BankFodder]

I think that you need to start laying down a paper trail.

 

Write a very clear but succinct account of what has happened, the fact that you have been looking at the proposals from a number of architects and that you made this clear the time to everybody you dealt with.

 

Refer to the conversation that you had on the telephone, explain what it was intended to mean and that at no point did you enter into any commitment or even make any statement that could be in turn booted as having entered into a commitment.

 

Say that had you decided to go along with her, that you would have expected a signed agreement.

 

Tell her that you are returning her drawings to her and you are not intending to use them and if later on the work is done she is welcome to come along and check that her copyright in the drawings has not been infringed.

 

Also, list out the amount of times that she has tried to make contact with you whether by phone, text, etc. Tell her that you consider that she is being disproportionate to the point of being harassing.

 

Tell her that you don't want any more communication from her and if she feels that she has the basis of the claim then you look forward to seeing her in court.

 

In your letter do not use any phrase such as "I never intended"… "I never meant you to think…" Etc. which might suggest that you used words which could have given the impression that you are committing yourself but it simply was not your intention.

 

Be very unequivocal in your letter that you said nothing that could have given anybody any reason to imagine that you are entering into a commitment.

 

This is what I read from the information you have given us. If this is correct then send the letter.

 

After that, make no more communication. Simply make sure that you log very clearly any further attempts to contact you on this matter.

 

Let me point out that she has a copyright in the drawings that she has supplied to you and that if you use any of them as part of your development plan, then you would have infringed her copyright and she will be completely justified in expecting a reasonable payment.

[BazzaS]

It can be verbal but without evidence it's a nonstarter

 

The evidence for the architect is "my normal practice is ........" (to charge for preliminary work AND warn clients of this), and her to attest to this, and offer to provide clients who will agree that that was her normal practice.

 

The evidence for the OP is (similarly) the other architects who also weren't hired, and the fact that they weren't paid a fee, only the architect who got (gets?) the final commission.

 

The first shows the architect would only have contracted to do the preliminary work for a fee.

The latter shows that the OP would never have contracted were there a fee for the preliminary work.

 

The court would make a determination, on balance of probabilities, which was the actual case agreed, or it would likely derive a quantum meruit if it held that both were true, and it was a misunderstanding by both parties. This would be a quantum meruit for the work done, rather than "being taken to court for not hiring her".

[steampowered]

Ultimately she can bring a claim against you if she wants. You can obviously defend that claim. Then the court will decide. Based on what you have posted, it sounds like the court would almost certainly go in your favour. It is nothing to be too stressed about.

[ericsbrother]

have you any evidence of inviting informal tenders or the like from the other people you asked to give quotes? If you can produce 3 sets of similar surveys this will be enough to show where you were in the grand scheme of things and that will tip the balance a long way in your favour. as all of th ethreats seem to be rather informal and bordering on harassment I wouldnt place too much store on them at the moment.

[raydetinu]

how long ago was this; you are covered by the DSR and can cancel any contract agreed over the phone within 14 days.

probably past that now though.

As you asked her to prepare drawings you may well have committed yourself to some costs, unless she said it was consideration only or you said that would be a her risk if you did not proceed.

A judge may well say you commissioned the work, even if just a scheme outline, so she would be entitled to paid on a quantum meruit basis.

[raydetinu]

Ok a bit more research!

As the supposed contract was mainly done on the phone, you are covered by the Consumer Contract Regulations Act 2013 and as such you have 14 days to cancel any contract after the receipt of your rights to cancel information, which the trader ( in this case Architect ) should send you if she believes she has a contract with you.

So she is at risk until she has done that or asks you to sign a waiver.

It also an offence under these regulations not to send you such information as to your rights to cancel.

So I suggest you write or email her on the above basis and that should be the end of that.

[msangha80]

Sorry for replying late. But the architect finally stopped herself writing me any threatening emails. Probably she knew it all along but she still tried to trick me into hiring her. I made it clear i have no intention of using those drawings. But that was a bad experience.

[AndyOrch]

Well done msangha80

 

Andy