Lawyer Monthly Magazine - May 2019 Edition

MAY 2019 48 Expert Witness www. lawyer-monthly .com The practice of Architecture is challenging, absorbing, fascinating, and complex. Architecture has been described as a practical art, frozen music, being about how a building’s shape, decoration, features and materials come together to form a look or a style. In his treatise de Architectura, military engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio set out, in the 1st Century BC, a definition as “firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis” which can be translated as “stability, utility, beauty” and in a more anglicised translation: “firmness, commodity, delight”. Within this complex realm of art, design, technology and construction, there is myriad opportunity for things to go wrong. Most of the time, architecture is successfully created and fortunately, things rarely go wrong. However, in this article, I reflect on some of the areas where sadly this happens. What are common legal cases that arise in architecture? I have been instructed on many cases brought against architects by their clients. There seems to be a common theme running through many claims characterised by a lack of organisation and management within the architect’s business. A result of this can be a lack of attentionand skill beingprovided at the proper time within the design process. The effects can range from architects not providing a good service, to them in acting in a negligent manner. There are areas of failure between these two extremes which require enquiry. Perhaps surprisingly, it is less often the case that an architect has made after considering a wrong design or detailing decision, and more often that insufficient consideration has been applied at the time it should have been to that part of the design process. The standard of Architectural education in British Universities is generally a high one. I have seen a less rigorous approach to training architects on how to manage the process of design within a commercial environment. I have a lingering concern that the claims I see result from this. It is clear that such claims tend to arise after a period when architectural practice has been stretched for adequate resources. The design of buildings is a highly complex matter. It is just about the case that each building is a prototype with the exception of mass housing. Such housing can suffer from its own particular difficulties if a generic mistake is perpetuated across a design type. What are the standard regulations and codes architects must meet? Architects must have a working knowledge of an increasingly wide variety of British Standards and to date European Standards. There are up to some 100 such standards of which an architect must be aware. An architect must know where, and have the resources, to research the detail of these standards. Separately there are the Building Regulations to be complied with. These are signally complex to understand. Compliance may require component testing for the more unusual building designs. Architects must be aware of planning regulations, the town planning process and its rules and of planning law, of regulations affecting neighbouring property and also of contract law, most especially where an architect is appointed as Contract Administrator for a construction contract. The detail of such necessary understanding cannot be held by one person for more than the simplest of building design processes. It is therefore imperative that an architects’ practice is organised and John Perry, B.Arch., B.Sc.(arch), RIBA, FRSA, ARB, MAE, AaPS BLDA Architects ABOUT JOHN PERRY As a Director of BLDA Ar- chitects, my work is wide- ranging across the field of architecture, although currently, focused on high quality residential and be- spoke office architecture. Spanning a career of 40 years in private practice, I have been responsible for the design and construc- tion of many building types ranging in contract size from £40,000,000 to £50,000. I also act as an expert in professional and construc- tion-related disputes. I am engaged in pre-action ad- vice, report writing, meet- ings of experts, mediations, adjudications and appear- ance in court. In Freeborn & Anor v Marcal [2019] EWHC 454 (TCC) I was instructed on behalf of the claimants. Findings, in this case, in- cluded the requirement that a written brief be provided by the architect and the ARCHITECTURE ramifications if no such writ- ten brief is established. I am responsible for major refurbishment works to List- ed Buildings in St James’s Square and Belgravia Lon- don and for new houses in Kensington and in Suffolk. I am partner in charge of a rolling refurbishment pro- gramme for a major central London estate. I am re- sponsible for the design of a national programme of low energy low carbon homes. A recent commission Oce- anic House Pall Mall London SW1 won the UK Property Award 2018/2019 for multi- ple residencies. I am a visiting lecturer at the University of Bath School of Architecture. Clients include private indi- viduals, private estates, de- velopers, contractors, com- mercial owner occupiers, investors, insurers and other financial organisations.