An architect made a mistake on his drawing and now the city is requesting a survey to be done. Who should pay?

Question

me or him?

Answer 1

It depends largely on what the mistake was. If it was a zoning or or variance issue although these are matters the architect would be responsible to make you aware of such as; the house is to large for lot, the house does not fit within the building setbacks, the house is 2 feet onto the neighbors property these things are important to address however not the architects responsibility to administrate corrective measures or foot the bill for you to do so (unless you have contracted the architect to act as your builder as well) and at that point it's all about the contract. Incedently every construction project which alters an existing or creates a new permenant foundation onto the property requires a survey be done once established this is how they keep a record of where everything is so if your acting as your own general contractor this is an expense you would be incurring wether there was a mistake or not. Most errors falling on the shoulders of the architect revolve around structual and building code issues which are seldom resolved with a survey. You must also not forget that everything the Architect produced was specifically done per your request and assummably approved by you or you would not have paid for his services. Thus the responsiblity usually will fall back to you unless it was a flagrent error out of your ability to make judgement on. Also I'm assuming you had custom prints done if they were stock prints purchased online or from a magazine you really have no prayer of sticking the architect with any liability there should be disclaimers all over the prints. Hope this helps

Answer 2

The city will have to pay at first. If the survey shows the architect screwed up, the city can then litigate to recover the cost of the sutvey.

Answer 3

it all depends on your contract. but when an architect stamps a drawing he is taking responsablity for all information being correct on the drawing and he is to blame for any incorrect information. But if the city only wants to verify information and requests such information from the owner of the property then the property owner may have to pay. but it varies greatly on the exact circumstances of the situation. Hope that was helpfull

Answer 4

That depend on what the mistake is. Usually the owner pays. Then he has the choice of suing the architect.

Answer 5

The architect should pay, but most professions require professional liability insurance in order to practice their trade. You may have to pay for the survey, but your architect's insurance company should reimburse you.

Answer 6

Not only the architect should pay for it but he should be forced to live in that mistaken drawing once it's built.

Answer 7

Morally it is the architects responsibility. We are all human and we make mistakes, but we have to stand up and admit them, and take the consequenses.
If they did not want a professional they could have hilred a draftsperson.

Answer 8

Did he deviate from specs ? Then he should . . .
If the specs were vague , then each bears some responsibility so split the bill.
If he drew per spec and the error started there , then you.

Answer 9

He should, but is there anything stating he will cover any mistakes? Good luck getting it, if it isn't in writing!

Answer 10

the architect and it should be in your contract.