Standard form of agreement between owner and architect on percentage basis.. 233 Standard form of agreement between owner and archi tect on fee plus cost basis ..... 240 Standard form of agreement between contractor and owner on fixed sum basis 246 Standard form of agreement between contractor and 248 257 A INTRODUCTION VERY small proportion of the property holders in the United States are architects, builders, or lawyers. The ordinary layman who purchases a home, or who purchases land and builds his own home upon it, is surprisingly ignorant of the legal relationships of client, architect, and contractor. He knows in a general way that the architect will prepare the plans and give attention to the building operation. He knows that the contractor will carry out the work of construction under some contract which will provide for the amount to be paid to him and the work which he shall do. He knows that the architect will charge a certain fee for his services, and he may know that this fee will probably be based upon a percentage basis. He knows that he will receive a deed of some kind for the property; and that the broker negotiating the sale or purchase will be entitled to receive a commission for his services. All of these items of knowledge are general and not specific. The prospective home owner does not know, ordinarily, what the services of the architect really cover, what the amount of the architect's charge will be, or what obligations the architect assumes as supervisor. He does not know what the respective rights of the architect and himself will be with respect to changes in the plans and specifications, extra architectural services, aid given by the architect in connection with the landscape work or the furnishing of the home, or in the event of the termination of the employment of the architect, either at the latter's instance or at the instance of! the owner. He has a rather hazy understanding, if any, of the difference between the costplus contract, the fixed-price contract, and the cost-plus contract with an upset price. He knows little or nothing respecting the terms embodied in the construction contract of to-day, the rights of the contractor to compensation for "extras," the relations of the subcontractors to the contractor and his employer, the rights of the latter in the event of the failure of the architect properly to perform the work, the laws having to do with the lien rights of contractor, subcontractor, and materialman, the advisability or necessity for fire and liability insurance in connection with the work, and like details entering into the relationships which the building of |