Hi all,
I sought help from an architect in Tasmania to provide some preliminary concepts for how a possible house could be built on a piece of land I own there. They provided me with some rough drafts and we had a few rounds around possibilities/options.
However, I failed to secure finance for the construction and am not able to continue with the construction for the time being. The architect has sent me an invoice at a fee which we never agreed to. I've explained this to them but they say that we discussed the fee over the phone (we never did). Needless to say, we didn't sign any contract or even exchange an email about the fees.
Now they are saying that they will refer me to a debt collection agency as I am liable to pay them under Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009. I am not the sort of person who doesn't wish to pay, but cost they are seeking is totally incongruent with the work (and the market practice where this sort of preliminary work is often done for free).
Can someone please advise?
Thanks,
Avi
I sought help from an architect in Tasmania to provide some preliminary concepts for how a possible house could be built on a piece of land I own there. They provided me with some rough drafts and we had a few rounds around possibilities/options.
However, I failed to secure finance for the construction and am not able to continue with the construction for the time being. The architect has sent me an invoice at a fee which we never agreed to. I've explained this to them but they say that we discussed the fee over the phone (we never did). Needless to say, we didn't sign any contract or even exchange an email about the fees.
Now they are saying that they will refer me to a debt collection agency as I am liable to pay them under Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009. I am not the sort of person who doesn't wish to pay, but cost they are seeking is totally incongruent with the work (and the market practice where this sort of preliminary work is often done for free).
Can someone please advise?
Thanks,
Avi