Practice Management Member Conversations

I glad to see I'm not the only one that has trouble with this. I'm a sole proprietor, and clients seem to think that I can stop on a dime, and then pickup their project again on what ever day they choose to say "go". Fortunately I have lots of really small projects that I can use to fill in these situations, but frankly they are not the kind of work I would prefer to do. It seems like every time I am serious about hiring a second person, an owner puts a "pause" on a project. This also wreaks havoc with the engineer's schedule and makes me look terribly unorganized!
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John Crowell
Deer Hill Architects, LLC
Peabody MA
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I recommend you review Article 9 "Termination Or Suspension" (especially sub-paragraphs 9.2, 9.6 and 9.7) in AIA Document B101 - 2007 (formerly B151 - 1997), and make certain your agreements with your clients include similar paragraphs.  This is something that needs to be made absolutely clear to a client while negotiating the agreement, and you should not hesitate to immediately inform a client that you will expect additional compensation the moment a project is suspended.  Perhaps this will cause the client to reconsider the decision to suspend if it is going to increase the cost of the project.
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Larry Whitlock AIA
Pflugerville TX
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