Despite the excellent standards set by the Royal Institute of British Architects, architects do make mistakes and they often have serious consequences and expense to you, the client. If you believe an architect has fallen short of their expected high standards of professionalism such that you have suffered a loss or damage, our specialist team can advise you of the different options available ranging from dispute resolution to legal action.

Our philosophy is to step in and assess the situation before it becomes too costly to resolve. We take an honest, consultative approach and take time to understand your problem. We then seek the most commercial and cost effective route towards resolution. Advice may be all we provide and our early involvement allows our expertise to be used to focus on avoiding matters escalating into costly disputes

If litigation is required, our specialist team have the necessary skill, knowledge and experience to advise you about the best course of action and the likely costs and risks involved. Architects generally will have their own insurance to cover acts of professional negligence and the insurers may be willing to pay your damages and your legal costs.

Our Professional Negligence Team can deal with cases involving :

• Negligent architect advice
• Inadequate plans or project work
• Negligent building and structural works
• Contractual disputes

All negligence claims are subject to time limits and it is therefore important that you do not delay in making your claim as soon as you know that something has gone wrong. In most professional negligence claims you have 6 years to issue court proceedings.

Time limits can be extremely complicated and mistakes by solicitors about time limits often give rise to a large number of claims. As a general rule, the 6 year period starts running from the date that your professional advisor was negligent or the date you suffered loss. However, if you can show that you were not aware that your professional adviser had been negligent until after the date of negligence, you may be entitled to more time.

It is not always easy to calculate the time limits in professional negligence claims and it is therefore important that you obtain prompt legal advice as soon as you discover that you may have a negligence claim.

Please use the icons below for more information.