Department of Architecture

SEMESTER ONE POSTGRADUATE EXAMINATIONS 2017/18

MODULE: ENGLISH LAW, REGULATIONS, CONSTRUCTION

PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTS

MODULE CODE: 7ARCH007W

LEVEL: SEVEN

DATE: TUESDAY, 9th JANUARY 2018

TIME: 14:00 - 17:00 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

ANSWER FIVE QUESTIONS.

QUESTION FOUR IS COMPULSORY.

All questions carry equal marks.

THIS IS AN OPEN BOOK EXAMINATION

Candidates may refer to material in the public domain. This includes books,
lecture notes and printed copies of web references. Reference material may be
tabbed and include reasonable hand-written annotations. Hand-written notes
or material prepared specifically for the examination will not be allowed.

Time allowed: 3 hours

PLEASE DO NOT TURN OVER THIS PAGE UNTIL TOLD TO DO SO BY THE

INVIGILATOR.
SCENARIO

You have just joined an architectural practice with 12 staff as an architectural assistant
and are currently taking your Part III course.

Current projects include a new secondary school due for practical completion in a few
weeks, a new office building at feasibility stage and an apartment block which is on
site.

Yesterday the practice was approached by a local industrial museum on the edge of
a historic small town that wants to renovate its existing 19th century listed building and
an extension built in the 1960s, and it is seeking funding to do this. Also, the client has
just bought a neighbouring house to convert into a gift shop and café. To provide visitor
parking they want to demolish an old disused warehouse on the site that is in very
poor condition. The client says that several neighbouring buildings are listed and that
a rare species of bat is roosting in the roof of one of them.

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University of Westminster Semester One PG Examinations: 2017/18
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Module Code: 7ARCH007W
1) Your Director is due to meet the museum client tomorrow to discuss the
feasibility of their project and likely time scales. She has asked you to
prepare a report for her to take to the meeting. The report should set out in
two separate sections:
a) The site design issues that should be taken into account, key areas of concern
you may have and relevant legislation. (14 marks)
b) How long the planning, conservation and building regulation processes could
take, and the options should the scheme be rejected. (6 marks)

2) The museum client has obtained funding to continue with the project and
has appointed your practice to provide design services and make the
necessary statutory applications. The client would like a summary of the
statutory processes and who should be consulted and how.
a) Draft an email that sets out the relevant statutory processes and summarises
the information required. (14 marks)
b) Who are the likely stakeholders and interest groups, including statutory bodies,
affected by the development; and how you would address their concerns.
(6 marks)

3) Explain FOUR of the following topics, giving a relevant example:

(5 marks per question)
a) Duty of care
b) Trespass
c) Privity in contract
d) Consideration
e) The importance of the ARB and RIBA codes of conduct
f) National Planning Policy Framework

4) COMPULSORY – The museum client wants to discuss the different

procurement routes available with your director but has a number of
concerns including: keeping the museum open during the construction;
minimising costs; keeping the standard of quality high; carrying out the work
as quickly as possible.
a) Set out the different procurement options for this project giving their strengths
and weaknesses given the client’s concerns and the context of the project, and
select the most appropriate option. (12 marks)
b) What tendering procedure and what construction contract(s) would you
recommend and why? (8 marks)

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University of Westminster Semester One PG Examinations: 2017/18
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Module Code: 7ARCH007W
5) With reference to a relevant standard form of contract, explain FOUR of the
following: (5 marks per question)
a) Interim certificates
b) Retention
c) Insurance provisions
d) Loss and expense
e) Provisional and prime cost sums
f) Certificate of Non-completion

6) The school project is three weeks from Practical Completion. The

construction contract is the JCT SBC 2016. After unusually heavy rainfall the
flat roof has started to leak damaging the ceilings below. The contractor has
just written a letter to your practice claiming, among other things, a nine-
week delay because of unusually bad weather, confusing architect’s
information on the roof detailing and late information from the structural
engineer.
a) Prepare a note for your Director setting out how you would assess the claim for
an extension of time and any other matter the contractor may be claiming for.
(12 marks)
b) Draft a letter that your Director can send to the contractor giving the decision.
(8 marks)

7) The office building client has finally sent the practice a form of appointment
written by its lawyers. Your director has noticed that there is nothing on
dispute resolution in the appointment and is concerned whether the terms
cover all the necessary areas.
a) What would you suggest the practice does on receiving a non-standard form of
appointment to sign, and why? (4 marks)
b) What key areas would you expect the appointment to cover? (6 marks)
c) Set out the various forms of dispute resolution that might be available and
should be considered for inclusion in the appointment. (10 marks)

8) The apartment block project is on site and being carried out using the
SBC 2016 contract. You get a call from a concerned sub-contractor who
visited site today. He tells you that one end of a steel beam carrying part of
the roof structure appears to not be fixed to the steel column and is bending.
Apparently, other sub-contractors are continuing to work underneath it. He
can’t find the site manager or anyone else who is in charge, so he thought
he would alert you.
a) What immediate actions would you take? (6 marks)
b) What are the contractual implications? (14 marks)

Page 3 of 3
University of Westminster Semester One PG Examinations: 2017/18
Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Module Code: 7ARCH007W