1. The appointment
“Building Contract Clinic”, “I”, “me” and “my” mean Malcolm Blackburn, AssocRICS, trading as Building Contract Clinic. “Client”, “you” and “your” mean the person or organisation identified in the accepted proposal or engagement letter.
Your agreement consists of the accepted proposal or engagement letter, these standard terms and any written variations subsequently agreed. If there is an inconsistency, the matter-specific proposal or engagement letter takes priority.
2. Services and scope
The services may include an initial consultation, pre-contract cost advice, review of quotations and scopes, contract support, assessment of valuations or variations, review of project records, preparation of cost or contractual-position reports, meeting preparation and assistance with settlement discussions.
The exact work for each stage will be stated in writing. Work outside that stated scope will not be undertaken or charged without your approval. Any change to the scope, assumptions, programme or fee must be recorded in writing.
3. Important limitations
Building Contract Clinic provides quantity surveying, cost and building contract support. The services do not constitute legal advice, legal representation or advocacy. You should obtain advice from a qualified lawyer where legal rights, court proceedings, limitation periods, statutory notices, adjudication procedure or the interpretation and enforceability of legal provisions require it.
Unless the proposal expressly states otherwise, the services do not include a building survey, structural or engineering advice, design, inspection of concealed work, testing, valuation for lending, certification of statutory compliance, contract administration, health and safety services or verification of planning or Building Control approval.
4. Conflicts and acceptance
Every proposed instruction is subject to a conflict-of-interest check, confirmation that the work falls within my competence and insurance, and agreement of the scope and fee. I may decline an instruction where a conflict exists, appropriate records are unavailable, the required timescale is not achievable or the work requires legal or specialist expertise outside my service.
5. Your responsibilities
You agree to provide complete, accurate and timely information, identify relevant deadlines and disclose any facts that may materially affect the advice. You must have authority to supply the documents provided and to instruct me on behalf of any organisation or joint client.
I am entitled to rely on information supplied by you and by others involved in the project unless the agreed scope requires independent verification. You remain responsible for decisions taken and for obtaining legal, technical or other specialist advice where recommended.
6. Fees and payment
The initial consultation fee is £150. After the consultation, any recommended further work will be divided into clearly defined stages. You will receive the scope and fee for each stage before deciding whether to proceed.
- No later stage begins without your written approval.
- Unless agreed otherwise, the initial consultation is payable before the appointment and each fixed-fee stage is payable before work begins.
- Where hourly rates are agreed, time records will be maintained and invoices will describe the work undertaken.
- Reasonable third-party expenses will be charged only where stated in the proposal or approved by you in advance.
- VAT will be added only where legally chargeable and will be identified before the relevant stage is approved.
Invoices are due within seven days unless the proposal states otherwise. Work may be suspended on reasonable written notice if an invoice remains unpaid. This does not affect any statutory rights you may have as a consumer.
7. Consumer cancellation
If you are an individual instructing me mainly for purposes outside your trade, business, craft or profession, you may cancel a distance or off-premises engagement within 14 days after it is made by sending a clear written statement that you wish to cancel.
I will not normally begin work during that period unless you expressly ask me to do so. If you request an early start and then cancel within the 14 days, you must pay a reasonable and proportionate amount for work properly completed up to cancellation. If, at your express request, the service is completed in full during the cancellation period, your cancellation right may end once the service has been fully performed.
These terms do not restrict any cancellation or consumer rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
8. Timescales
Any delivery date is an estimate unless expressly agreed as a fixed deadline. Timescales depend on receiving the necessary information, responses and access. I will tell you promptly if a material delay becomes apparent. I am not responsible for delay caused by incomplete information, third parties or events reasonably outside my control.
9. Confidentiality and information
Your information will be treated as confidential and used only for the engagement, professional compliance, insurance and legitimate business administration. It may be disclosed where you authorise it, where reasonably necessary to deliver the service, to professional advisers or insurers under duties of confidence, or where disclosure is required by law.
Secure digital and technology-assisted tools may be used to organise records and assist with drafting. Professional judgement remains my responsibility and no substantive advice or final report will be issued without my review. Sensitive information should not be sent until an appropriate method of transfer has been agreed.
10. Reports, ownership and reliance
Advice and reports are prepared solely for the named client, for the stated purpose and on the information available at the relevant date. No third party may rely on them without my prior written agreement. You must not alter a report or reproduce an extract in a way that could be misleading.
I retain copyright in my working methods, templates and reports. Once the relevant fees are paid, you receive a non-exclusive licence to use the final deliverable for the purpose identified in the engagement. Drafts are provisional and must not be relied upon as final advice.
11. Standard of care and outcomes
I will exercise the reasonable skill and care expected of an experienced quantity surveyor carrying out services of the type agreed. Opinions may necessarily involve professional judgement and may differ from those of another adviser, tribunal or court. No particular commercial, negotiated or legal outcome is guaranteed.
12. Liability
Any liability will be limited to the loss that is a reasonably foreseeable consequence of a proven breach of the agreed duty and to the fair and reasonable share of that loss attributable to my responsibility, taking account of the responsibility of all other parties.
I will not be liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity or loss arising from inaccurate, incomplete or withheld information, except where such liability cannot lawfully be excluded. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that the law does not permit to be limited.
13. Ending the engagement
Either party may end the engagement by written notice. I may suspend or end it where there is non-payment, a conflict, abusive or improper conduct, loss of trust, an attempt to mislead, an instruction to act unlawfully or a requirement to work outside my competence or insurance. You remain responsible for fees and approved expenses properly incurred up to the termination date.
On termination, I will provide any completed paid-for deliverables and, where appropriate, explain urgent outstanding matters. File retention and release remain subject to legal, regulatory and insurance requirements.
14. Complaints
If you are dissatisfied, please raise the matter as soon as possible using the contact details in your engagement letter. I will acknowledge a formal written complaint within five working days and aim to provide a substantive response within 20 working days. If more time is reasonably required, I will explain why and provide a revised response date.
Details of any applicable independent redress or alternative dispute resolution service will be provided in the engagement letter and in the final response to a complaint. You will not be prevented from notifying an insurer, regulator or professional body where you are entitled to do so.
15. Data protection
Personal information will be handled in accordance with applicable data-protection law. The client information supplied before appointment will explain who controls the information, why it is used, how long it is retained, any permitted sharing and the rights available to the individuals concerned.
16. Governing law
For business clients, the engagement is governed by Isle of Man law and the Isle of Man courts will have exclusive jurisdiction unless the proposal states otherwise. If you are a consumer, this clause does not deprive you of any mandatory protection or right to bring proceedings available under the law of the country in which you live.
17. General
No variation is effective unless recorded in writing. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in effect. A person who is not a party to the engagement has no right to enforce it. Delay in exercising a right does not waive that right.
Website version: 28 September 2026. A copy of the version applying to your instruction will be supplied or identified when you are appointed.