Shropshire architect reprimand over driveway work
An architect has been reprimanded and issued with a disciplinary order after admitting unacceptable professional conduct regarding works to a driveway.
Chris Hardaker, of St Martins, near Oswestry,had been appointed by a homeowner to carry out works including the installation of a new driveway.
He appointed a contractor and work began, however, when issues were raised about the work nothing was done.
When the homeowner asked for the contractor’s contract to be terminated, again nothing happened and none of defects was fixed.
The homeowner reported Mr Hardaker to the Architects Registration Board, and he admitted unacceptable professional conduct by not entering into a written agreement with the client, contrary to the Architects Code.
Concerns were first raised when the work, which was supposed to take two weeks to completed, went into a sixth.
The homeowner contacted Mr Hardaker and said he had not received any terms and conditions, and requested the works to the driveway be completed by December 16, 2016.
Accepted
He then issued two complaints and sought advice from another company, which stated fixing the defects could cost £17,500.
In April 2017, a request was made to terminate the contractors appointment but nothing happened.
A report published on the ARB website stated Mr Hardaker had admitted to not providing formal terms of engagement, and he accepted that meeting notes provided from the initial meeting in August 2016 were not appropriate. It was said he had taken steps to ensure it would not happen again.
The Consent Order Panel of the Professional Conduct Committee has made a disciplinary order, which includes a reprimand.
Mr Hardaker said he accepted all the facts from the outset of the nine-month investigation.
He added the reprimand was the minimum penalty and he had adopted a new standard practice to make sure it did not happen again.
