Fee Proposals & Contracts

This is aimed at helping students navigate creating fee schedules and contracts

What is a contract?

An agreement that is legally binding. A contract must have two or more persons, bodies, or organisation, one of them creates an offer and the other accepts it.
Common Contents

  • Summary

  • Definitions

  • Parties Details

  • Project Brief

  • Scope

  • Contract Exclusions

  • Dates

  • Budget

  • Delays

  • Provisional Sums

  • Termination Provisions

  • Changes to Services

  • Fees for additional services

  • Reimbursable expenses

  • Printing

  • Ownership and copyright

  • Fee schedule

  • Penalties

  • Dispute resolution

  • Signing

  • Payment Methods

Summary

  • What is the contract for?

  • Outline of the fees

Definitions

Terms that are used throughout the contract that need defining.

  • Landscape designer

  • Contractor

  • Project

  • Consultant

Party Details

  • Client Information: Names, Business Name (if relevant), Address

  • Business Information: Address, Business Name, ABN, Trading Name

The Brief

  • What is the job you are going to do?

  • What does the client want included?

  • What is not included?

Budget

  • What is the intended spend on the construction of the design?

  • If you design something that does not fit inside the budget are you completing your part of the contract? Do you need to revise the budget before you start if it is not appropriate?

Scope of services

  • What documentation are you going to provide?

  • How many site visits?

  • Are you going to take a site survey or are you expecting the client to provide one?

  • Are you going to consult throughout construction? Is this part of a future contract?

Submission

  • When are the documents outlined in the scope of services due?

Contract Exclusions

What is not included in this contract?

  • Permit applications

  • Engineering

  • Soil testing

  • Printing

Information

  • If the client provides you with information about the job that turns out to be incorrect, what happens?

Delays

  • What happens if you do not meet your deadlines? are there penalties?

  • What happens if you are waiting on decisions from the client for an extended period of time? Does this constitute a pause to the contract extending the deadlines? How long?

Provisional Sums

This is an allowance for something that cannot be priced at this point.

Termination Provisions

  • Can you and the client opt out of the contract? If so when?

  • What happens if you terminate?

  • What payments are due upon termination?

Changes to Services

  • If a client has already approved a drawing what happens if a change means that pre-approved work needs to be amended?

Fees for additional services

  • Design work

  • Drafting

  • Drafting by junior employees

  • Site visits

  • Minimum call out fees

Reimbursable Expenses

  • Printing

Ownership and Copyright

  • At what point does the owner acquire ownership? After all fees have been paid?

  • Can the design be reproduced?

  • Does the designer retain copyright?

Fee Schedule

  • When are the fees due?

  • Do they align with the project stages?

  • What happens if you are late on stages?

Dispute Resolution

  • Is mediation required before any legal provisions? Who pays and what percentages?

Signing

  • Date

  • Signed by both parties

 

Lesson Outline

  • What is a contract?

  • Common contents

Presentations

Definitions