A construction appointment agreement records the terms on which a consultant, contractor or other project professional is engaged. It should identify the parties, project, services, deliverables, programme and standard of performance. Harper James is a UK full-service commercial law firm advising businesses on the laws of England and Wales, including construction matters.
The agreement should state whether the appointment covers design, project management, surveying, engineering, cost control or other services. It should also identify information supplied by the client, approval procedures and the process for dealing with changes. Clear scope wording reduces disputes about work that falls outside the original instruction.
Fees should be set out with the charging basis, payment dates, expenses, VAT treatment and any retention or payment provisions. The agreement should explain how additional services are instructed and priced. It should also allocate responsibility for design, site information, approvals, health and safety obligations and coordination with other members of the project team.
Construction appointments commonly address professional skill and care, insurance, intellectual property and confidentiality. A consultant may be required to maintain professional indemnity insurance at an agreed level. The client should check whether design documents can be used, adapted or passed to replacement consultants if the appointment ends.
A funder, purchaser, tenant or main contractor may require rights against a consultant or specialist contractor. These rights are often documented through a collateral warranty or, where appropriate, a third-party rights schedule. The agreement should state who receives those rights and what obligations they cover.
The parties should also consider termination, suspension, insolvency, delay, limitation of liability and dispute resolution. The appointment should operate consistently with the main building contract, consultant appointments and any JCT or NEC documentation used on the project. Conflicting obligations can create gaps in responsibility, particularly where design duties and completion dates are divided between several parties.
Before signing, compare the appointment with the project brief, fee proposal, programme and main contract. Confirm that every service is allocated to a named party, that deliverables have realistic dates and that variations require written approval. Check insurance requirements, payment provisions, intellectual property rights and termination consequences. Finally, record the agreed contract documents and their order of precedence, so that conflicting terms can be resolved by reference to a defined hierarchy.