AUTHOR'S PREFACE

During the years 1913-14 I contributed to Architecture a series of articles the purpose of which was to define and set forth, in comparatively simple and yet practical form, the respective rights, duties, and liabilities, of architect, owner, and contractor.

The request for the preparation of these articles was born of the realization by the publishers of Architecture of the fact that, among architects especially, the legal rights and liabilities affecting the architectural profession were, in general, neither appreciated nor understood, and of the desire to place before them a statement of the basic rules of law governing and affecting the practice of their profession, in a form which would be at once sufficiently free from special legal phraseology to be understood by a layman, and at the same time sufficiently comprehensive and detailed in the citation of cases to enable the reader to refer to the leading cases if desired.

The desire which has been expressed that the articles contributed to Architecture be published in a fuller and more detailed form, and in a form available for general reference and office use, is the raison d'être of the present volume. The text has been enlarged and revised and additional cita

tions of recent decisions added. There has been added, also, a table of cited cases and a number of special appendices and forms.

My endeavor, in general, has been twofold: First, to provide a text which will enable the architect, owner, or contractor, to understand or readily ascertain his respective duties and liabilities, and the elementary and general legal rules which govern them; second, to make the discussion of the various points treated sufficiently detailed and technical so that it may be of aid to the legal, as well as to the architectural, profession. For this reason, especially, the citation of authorities has been made as thorough and as comprehensive as possible.

There will be found collected, in considerable number and detail, citations of authorities covering the various matters referred to, and illustrative of the manner in which they have been treated and passed upon by the courts of the several States and especially by the courts of New York, by the Federal courts, and by the courts of other countries. The cases cited have been personally checked and verified and an earnest endeavor made to insure their accuracy, both in citation and in application.

There are certain broad and many less broad but none the less vital principles, governing the rights, duties and liabilities, of architect, owner, and contractor, which it is essential they should understand, if they are to be able to deal with one another with a minimum amount of legal contro

versy, and with a proper and desirable degree of mutual understanding and satisfaction. The general right of the architect to compensation, the ownership of plans, the right to charge for preliminary sketches and preliminary work, the respective rights of the parties under the lien laws of the various States, the ever troublesome questions of estimated cost, extras, alterations in plans and superintendence-all of these are matters which, to one acquainted with the broad general legal principles by which they are governed, will present no great amount of difficulty but, to another not so warned and forearmed, will present almost innumerable opportunities for serious financial loss, unnecessary and expensive litigation, misunderstandings with clients, architects, or contractors, as the case may be, and a very considerable amount of entirely unnecessary worry and difficulty.

Part I of the text deals with the relationship and the mutual rights and liabilities of the architect and the owner.

Part II deals with the relationship and the mutual rights and liabilities of the owner and the contractor.

Part III deals with the matter of liens, including the lien rights of the architect, of the contractor, and of the subcontractor.

Part IV deals with the relationship and rights and liabilities of the architect and the builder, so far as they are not necessarily referred to and discussed under the prior headings, and contains a

general summary of the more important points in the text, from the point of view, especially, of the architect, together with general suggestions based thereon.

The Appendices contain a number of selected decisions in leading cases for general reference reading supplemental to the text, the new Standard Documents, Forms, Canons of Ethics, and Schedule of Minimum Charges of the American Institute of Architects, and the Schedule of Charges of Architects, as approved by the New York Chapter of the American Institute.

The special forms which follow Appendix E are adapted from forms used in actual court proceedings. They include a number of the more useful and more generally needed forms in lien actions. It has been thought unnecessary to encumber the text with all the forms required from time to time in such proceedings, in view of the many excellent forms already published, and the fact that it is not the purpose of the present text to deal exhaustively with the subject of liens, but rather to emphasize those points therein which are especially applicable to the mutual relations of the architect, the owner, and the contractor.

For special or more detailed investigation as to any particular point in the text, reference may be had to the special authorities dealing with that point alone, as distinguished from the general subjects which it is the purpose of the present pages to discuss.

I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness in gen

eral to all of the standard legal digests and encyclopedias, and to the various authors to whom I have endeavored to give full credit in the reference notes. I must acknowledge, especially, the courtesy of The American Institute of Architects, in granting to me permission to publish the Standard Documents, Forms, Canons of Ethics and Schedule of Minimum Charges issued by the Institute and which comprise Appendix B. A similar acknowledgment is due the New York Chapter of the American Institute for the permission granted to publish its Schedule of Minimum Charges.

If the following pages prove helpful in any way to my many good friends in the Architectural profession or to my fellow-members of the Bar, I shall feel amply repaid for the time and effort given to their preparation.

CLINTON H. BLAKE, JR. New York City, October 15th, 1915.