This looks weird. However, from time to time this happens and could has fatal consequences if we follow the wishes of uninformed owner. According to the Owner-Architect agreement the architect is responsible to represent the owner interest with the contractor. In this case the owner broken that agreement as a result the Architect doesn’t have any responsibility. An this is specified in the Owner-Architect contract the B101. In the article 2 the architect assumes a responsibility, so for this, the architect maintain an insurance of Professional liability. In the Article 3 of the B101 there are basic services provided by the architect.
In article 3.1.4 said” Architect is not responsible for Owner’s change of work or acceptance of nonconforming work.” The architect is requiring to certify the contractor request in this situation as a professional I would denied the payment order. According to the section 13.4.1 the contractor has the responsibility for the work and I will not sign the payment order until the contractor fix the concrete mixture, according with article 9.5.1.1
On the other hand, I will talk with the owner and explain firstly, that he didn’t follow our contract, that he puts in risk the life of several families because this is multifamily housing. Secondly, I am not going to put in bad shape my well-earned reputation and finally, I’m not going to break the law, my morals, and my contract to save the owner a few thousand dollars, and tell the owner to let me work according to our contract without interference.
