Replacement

If a collaboration between client and architect comes to an end for any reason, the ongoing project should be taken over by another architect. To get the project over the line, the client will need to engage another architect at that point. 

What is a replacement?

We use the term 'replacement' when an architect is asked to work on an existing project which has not been completed or delivered and was initially entrusted to another architect.

Depending on the client-architect agreement, a task is considered complete:

a) after the preliminary design phase if the agreement only covers the delivery of a preliminary design study, possibly with an estimate.

b) on completion of the works if the agreement covers a complete assignment.

Replacement or Not?

Here you will find a few examples for clarification (in Dutch).

Replacement files by way of example

What should happen?

Article 26 of the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice sets out the following:

(1) If for any reason an architect is asked to take over from a colleague he must notify that colleague in writing, or, in the case of death, his heritors by registered letter, and he must enquire as to any objections that may be raised.
(2) The newly appointed architect must first report the matter to his provincial council, and he must describe his assignment.
(3) The architect may not, without first obtaining the consent of his provincial council, take action before he has ascertained that the fees owing to his predecessor have been paid to the latter or his beneficiaries. 
(4) In disputed matters or pressing cases the provincial councils may give an architect who is approached by a client the authorisation to execute all or part of the project.
(5) In the event of a dispute over fees the competent provincial council may order that funds be set aside in an account until the Council passes its decision.
(6) The architect or his heritors will supply the newly appointed architect with the full project information and any information or paperwork in their possession. 

The jurisprudence in this matter has rendered paragraphs (3) and (5) of the aforementioned Article 26 of the Code of Professional Conduct and Practice unenforceable.*

The content of the case file in paragraph (6) is clear. It concerns all information and documents needed to continue the assignment. **

Procedures for the replaced architect and the replacing architect

For a proper handling of the entire replacement procedure, we refer to the step-by-step plan (procedures) and the associated specimen letters (in Dutch).

Notes 

* The courts are of the opinion that the enforceability of the outstanding fee payable to the replacing architect, or his heritors, is a legal matter and therefore not within the scope of the ethical rules. They do not consider a settlement of the outstanding fee to the replacing architect as a condition of replacement. The paragraph concerning the ring-fencing of fees due should be understood in the same spirit. The EU competition rules mean that unpaid fees no longer stand in the way of a replacement contract.

** Therefore, not only the plans, but all necessary data such as the results of the soil investigation, advice on ground works and foundations, the environmental impact report, the feasibility study, any estimates, the structural engineering report and similar documents. The documents to be provided will either be paper or electronic (at least a PDF version at a sufficiently high resolution), or a combination of the two.

Architect in Need - Replacement Procedure

Architect in need is a solidarity-based concept set up by the Flemish Council of the Order of Architects to assist architects who are temporarily unable to practice, due to physical and/or mental issues for example. Through this initiative, the Order aims to support the family or immediate circle of the architect in need during the replacement procedure.

By following a step-by-step plan, assistance can be provided to the architect in need, or the architect's ongoing projects or tasks can be managed or taken over temporarily by a fellow architect. Go to the Architect in need step-by-step plan (Dutch) for more information on the procedure.

Would you like to use the Architect in need procedure?

Please get in touch with your provincial council. They will connect you to the right person for further assistance.

If the replacement is definitive, the ordinary rules of replacement will apply.