Architect as a contractor

Art. 760 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes the obligations of a contractor (designer):
1. Under a contract for the execution of design ... work, the contractor must:

• perform work in accordance with the assignment and other initial data for the design and contract;
• to coordinate the finished technical documentation with the customer, and, if necessary, together with the customer, with the competent state bodies and local authorities;
• hand over to the customer the finished technical documentation and the results of the survey.

The contractor is not entitled to transfer the technical documentation to third parties without the consent of the customer.
2. The contractor ... guarantees to the customer that third parties do not have the right to impede or restrict their work on the basis of technical documentation prepared by the contractor.

The specific responsibilities of the architect as a contractor are established by Art. 13 FZ of November 17, 1995 No. 169-FZ “On Architectural Activities in the Russian Federation”. The person carrying out architectural activities must observe:

• the legislation of the Russian Federation and the legislation of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the field of architectural activities;
• state standards in the field of design and construction;
• urban planning standards, construction, as well as environmental norms and rules;
• the procedure for carrying out urban development activities in the territory of the corresponding constituent entity of the Russian Federation and the rules for the development of a city or other settlement;
• requirements of architectural planning;
• requirements of the customer (developer) set out in the design assignment, not contradicting the requirements of the specified article.

An architect is not entitled to disclose information about the intentions of the customer (developer) on the implementation of the architectural project without his consent.
An architect does not have the right to assume the obligations of the responsible representative of the customer (builder) when concluding a construction contract, during architectural supervision of the construction of an architectural object and upon acceptance of the specified object into operation if there is a personal interest in the profits of the contracting organization participating in the bidding, as well as not entitled to participate in a competition for an architectural project, as a member of the jury of this competition.

The specific rights of persons carrying out architectural activities are established by Art. 12 Federal Law of November 17, 1995 No. 169-ФЗ “On Architectural Activities in the Russian Federation”:

• request and receive from the relevant authorities the architectural and planning assignment, other information and source documents necessary for pre-design studies, design and construction of the architectural object;
• to protect the architectural decisions agreed upon with the customer (builder) during their examination and consideration by the relevant authorities;
• participate in the development of all sections of the documentation for construction, coordinating all changes in architectural decisions of the adopted architectural project, or take on the instructions of the customer (builder) the development of all sections of documentation for construction;
• involve on a contractual basis in the development of documentation for the construction of the necessary assistants, consultants and technical workers, assuming responsibility for the volume and quality of the work they performed;
• represent and protect the interests of the customer (developer) on his behalf at the conclusion of a contract for the construction of an architectural object;
• assist in organizing or conducting tenders (auctions or tenders) for concluding construction contracts;
• to carry out architectural supervision of the construction of an architectural object or, on behalf of a customer (developer), to be its responsible representative in the construction of this object, monitoring the quality of building materials, the quality and volume of construction and installation works and financial control;
• to take part in the acceptance of the architectural object into operation or on behalf of the customer (developer) to be its responsible representative in the acceptance of the specified object into operation;
• to consult on issues of investment, construction and operation of architectural objects, as well as perform other functions of the customer (developer).

Art. 761 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes the responsibility of the contractor for the improper implementation of design ... work
1. The contractor ... is responsible for the improper preparation of technical documentation and the implementation of survey work, including deficiencies discovered subsequently during construction, as well as during the operation of the facility, created on the basis of technical documentation and survey data.
2. If there are deficiencies in the technical documentation ... the contractor, at the request of the customer, is obliged to remake the technical documentation free of charge ... and also compensate the customer for the losses caused, unless otherwise provided by law or contract for the execution of design ... works.

• Work agreement
• Town Planning Code of the Russian Federation
• Architect
• Architecture