Several years ago on these pages a leading construction barrister, now a High Court judge, strongly criticised the RIBA's standard form for the appointment of an architect (SFA/99). It was, he said, unfairly weighted against the client (Robert Akenhead. Some of the criticisms were echoed by the High Court in a 2005 case, Munkenbeck and Marshall vs Harold, which described two of the terms as "unfair and onerous". The RIBA has recently updated the contract as the RIBA Standard Agreement 2007 S-Con-07. Is this one any better?
展开▼