ACASFA 2012

ACA Standard Form of Agreement for the Appointment of an Architect. ACA SFA 2012

“This update of the popular contract between client and architect meets the need for a fair and balanced Standard Form of Agreement following the demise of SFA/99″ Brian Waters – ACA Immediate Past President

This contract closely follows it’s predecessor SFA/99, which has served both architects and clients well since its inception as SFA/92. It has been updated to include the HGCRA and Bribery Act amendments and is suitable for the full range of comercial and consumer projects and includes model letters for each kind of project to assist architects and their clients to come to a fair agreement on contract terms.

ACA SFA/2012:

1. maintains the same balance of rights and responsibilities between architect and client as the previous editions, SFA/99 and ID/05.
2. all terms are fully insured by standard professional indemnity insurance policies.
3. contains a ‘no set-off’ clause as in SFA/92, SFA/99 and ID/05. (This term is vital for enforcing payment against unreasonable clients.)
4. provides for an 8% over base rate charge for unpaid accounts, as set out in legislation (the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Order 2002), just as in SFA/99.
5. allows an architect to resign a commission. (This has always been a valuable clause for architects, particularly when an awkward client may make it impractical for the architect to continue, possibly because of a moral issue when it may not be easy to identify a specific breach of contract.)
6. includes no provision for a client to require the removal of a member of the architect’s staff (which could include a partner or a director) from a project.
7. includes an optional, tear-out form of Collateral Warranty and removeable notes with model letters
8. special terms are provided for, as is the opportunity for attachments to provide for additional documents (e.g.brief, survey, etc) to form part of the contract.
9. incorporates the RIBA Plan of Work 2007.
10. is not gender specific.
11. the ACA Form has been amended to cover the new Construction Act and Bribery Act requirements.

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