Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Copyright on plans by architect & working plan by builde 5Dec 15, 2011 1:48 pm Peter Clarkson - AusDesign Australia www.ausdesign.com.au This information is intended to provide general information only. It does not purport to be a comprehensive advice. Re: Copyright on plans by architect & working plan by builde 12Dec 27, 2011 10:15 am Although the original post was about copyright and the additionl 5K in damages, we came to accept some time ago that this was something we had to live with. However, the eventual disagreement with the building company was that we did not want to give him the final 5k unless he provided us with all the working drawing that were required for council. He refused to provide us with signed engineering drawings, and a release to use the plans elsewhere, which are obviously essential. We have offered a variety of different option (ie: he refund the amt for us to go to a different engineer; arranging a neutral place to exchange drawings and money so no-one has to worry about the other not fronting up). Although I agree we should have understood the process better at the beginning, we have always been very clear with the builder that we wanted the option to walk away if we wanted to use another builder. The money we paid upfront was a % of the build, not based on the cost to do the working drawings, and therefore in excess of what it probably cost him. If it hadn't taken him 7 months to complete plans that should have taken 3 months, if he had returned calls and kept us informed, if he had told us when our project manager left the job, or that the builder he was originally connected with (and whom we had done reference checks on) had changed and he had a new builder that was unknown to us - then we would not have wanted to look at other builders at all. Now we just want to get out with the least amount of damage. However, as I said, we have spoken to lots of other people and a new builder who have been fantastic and the comparison between this fella and them just makes me realise what a bad decision we made in choosing him in the first place. Probably a reflection of the time, as 12 months ago I couldn't get a builder to call me back, but now things have slowed down and people are looking for work and not turning it away. Your build is relatively simple, I believe your job can be easily done by a good building designer, you really do not need to pay for the architect. Remember, architect's… 3 10986 Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 20417 I had a similar issue with my fridge not too long ago. It wasn't the same model, but the symptoms were pretty much the same: the compressor would start and then stop… 3 7540 |