The architect is an essential component of any infrastructure project, be it the development of a single residential property, the entire residential development, commercial development or road and rail projects, just to name a few. To a large degree, the architect drives an infrastructure project given his certification role. His role has been particularly expanded in recent times given greater movement towards design and build contract. On this, the foreword to the book, 'Architects and the Law in Singapore', observes that 'in the more widely practiced design-bid-build situations, the tender stage is only arrived at after many months of work of an architect-led consultant team accompanied by numerous construction drawings, specifications and, where necessary, bills of quantities'. This in itself is evidence of the broad duties, obligations and potential liabilities of architects.
Despite the heavy onus that an architect carries, there has been to date little literature to guide architects and professionals who advise architects, as well as employers and contractors, of precisely what their duties, responsibilities and obligations are. Legislation abound, but without clear explanations, it is not always of clear understanding. In any event, the duties, obligations and potential liabilities of an architect are not contained only in legislation but also in case law. In this regard, recent developments in case law have broadened the exposure of the architect to potentially wide ranging economic losses as a consequence of tortuous breaches.
Against this background, the book 'Architects and the Law in Singapore' is to be welcomed. The authors have, within a space of a little over 100 pages, provided a quick, easy to use reference.
The organisation of the book takes a reader through the life of an architect, beginning with an explanation of who the architect is, what services he offers and who the regulatory authorities are. The second chapter discusses the contract of employment of an architect, highlighting the instances when a contract effectively comes into being. The discussion next touches on the remuneration of the architect followed by the role he plays as an agent. On agency, the chapter rightly observes that the architect is the agent of the employer, but also stresses that the architect may nevertheless be liable on his own account, particularly where he fails to disclose his principal, the employer.
Chapter 5 is perhaps the most important chapter. It discusses the duties and liabilities of architects at each stage of a construction project. In particular, the chapter emphasises the five key phases of a typical construction development project as follows:
The architect's certification duties are not discussed in Chapter 5, but rightly in a separate chapter. The authors take the trouble to explain the meaning of certification, the scope of certification obligations and the duty to ensure the correctness of certificates issued. A look through the case reports will show that it is in relation to certification that architects frequently face challenges in court. Hence, an understanding of the precise scope of their obligations in this regard is invaluable and this book provides that possibility.
Given the proliferation of design and build contracts in recent times, the authors have devoted an entire chapter to the architect's role and his duties and liabilities when undertaking such contracts.
The final few chapters of the book explore the termination of the architect's appointment and dispute resolution mechanisms. The issue and permutations of professional indemnity insurance available is also discussed at some length.
The cross-disciplinary authorship of the book has resulted in a book which provides practical insight into the complexities of an architect's role, weaving this smoothly into the legal duties and obligations. It is also pertinent to note that the legal aspects of the book are written in a very easy to read language. This allows for the architect and other parties involved in a construction project to read and assimilate the contents fairly effortlessly. Yet, the book contains sufficient legal discussions, which provide lawyers and inhouse counsel with a valuable resource. The book has a fairly thorough discussion of all recent local cases, with lacuna in local case law aptly filled in by discussions of case law from the United Kingdom and other commonwealth jurisdictions. It is evident that the authors have spared no effort in ensuring that case law discussions that were directly relevant and important were discussed succinctly.
Of course, in a book of such length as this, a complete and thorough discussion of every aspect of duties, responsibilities and liabilities and the interplay of the architect with his other counterparts in the construction project is not possible. But then, it does not appear to have been the intention of the authors to produce a treatise on the subject. The compactness of the discussions in the book has made the book much more practical and broadened the market that it can cater to. It is hardly only a book for lawyers. It is a book for all in the construction industry who have to deal with architects regularly and, of course, a must read for all architects.
Kala Anandarajah
Rajah & Tann