Ask which design stages can be commissioned separately and whether a design appointment creates any commitment to use Kompas for construction. Record the agreed boundary in your proposal.
Considering a design-only appointment
For a design-only proposal, ask where the service ends. The scope could need to distinguish an initial design, an application package, technical construction information and support for a separately appointed builder. ARB’s client guidance treats design, obtaining contractor quotations and managing the builder relationship as services whose scope should be discussed, rather than assumed. [1]
Set out the practical questions before agreeing the appointment:
- Which drawings, calculations and applications will be delivered?
- Who will obtain construction prices and answer builders’ technical queries?
- Will any site visits or contract administration be provided after the drawings are issued?
Before appointing another builder, agree the handover information, permitted use of the drawings and any continuing design support or additional charges.
Considering design & build
The defining feature of a design-and-build contract is that the contractor undertakes design as well as construction. JCT explains that the amount of design work can vary: a contractor may complete an existing concept or develop the design from the outset. The client’s requirements and the contractor’s design obligations therefore need to be clear. [2]
Do not treat the label as a substitute for a scope of work. Identify which existing information is being adopted, what design remains outstanding and who provides any specialist design.
Identify the contracting entity, contract form and design responsibilities. Agree specialist appointments, construction inclusions and any separate client advice or contract administration.
Identify the statutory roles separately
Construction health-and-safety duties and building-regulations duties are separate from the commercial description of a package. Under CDM, HSE explains how domestic client duties normally pass to the contractor or principal contractor, with a written-agreement route for a principal designer to take them on. That does not mean every design appointment includes that agreement. [3]
Building Safety Regulator guidance separately addresses the designer, principal designer, contractor and principal contractor roles for building-regulations compliance. Clarify the applicable appointments rather than assuming that one service label answers both questions. [4]
Ask which statutory roles each party will accept, who will carry them out and how those appointments will be recorded.
Choosing the scope
Compare the two proposals against your preferred level of involvement, the documents you need and the responsibilities retained by you or other advisers. Ask for unresolved choices, exclusions and the process for later changes to be written down before comparing headline fees.
If you later commission construction, agree the new scope and price in writing, including how design fees already paid will be treated.