Bankrupt Builder & Designs (square foot, documents, 2015, commission)

[madison2015]

Sorry if this post drags on a bit...

Last year we began the process of trying to select a builder and creating architectural plans for the home we would like to build. We came close to finalizing plans, but never signed a contract or any paperwork with the builder we were considering. We decided to put our plans on hold in an effort to set aside more money and hope for a better sale price for our existing home. Shortly after putting our plans on hold the builder we were considering went out of business, he was taken to court by a developer who he had partnered with and lost. We were aware of the fact that he went out of business and when we decided to restart the process of finalizing plans, purchasing a lot, and finally building we decided to interview a number of builders in the area who might be able to build the home we had developed plans for.

The original builder we worked with acted primarily as a sounding board for the ideas we would bring to him for the architectural plans and helped to communicate our ideas to the architect responsible for drawing our plans, we paid the architect directly for the plans ~$0.60 per square foot for the drawings, we believe we would have full ownership of the plans as the builder has gone out of business and we paid the architect directly with a check (we have a copy on file) for the plans. The builder in question acted as a pass through and provided some input to our ideas and drawings, etc.. we brought to him based on his experience - is our assumption correct that we would own the plans out right?

The builder we had worked with is now employed as a sales & design representative with another building company in the area he recently contacted us to see if we wanted to move forward with him at his new company, we expressed our concerns since he went out of business and told him we were moving forward with another builder, he stated that he was thinking of building our plans as a spec home, do we have any recourse since we paid the architect for the plans, there was no prior signed contract or other paperwork, only a verbal acknowledgement that we hoped to be able to work together to build the home in question? He says he is "partnering" with this other company which has been in business for ~20 years but all indications based on their website is that he is just a sales & design representative and not a partner, director, president , vice president, or even manager. It appears that photographs for a number of the homes that he previously built are no longer online, only a small handful of prior projects, my guess is this is because of the result of the settlement he came out on the wrong side of - I suppose this is informational, but the point is, if we paid for the plans and he was a pass through can we prevent him from using those plans for a spec home?

[vanguardisle]

Have you told him you feel uncomfortable with this and do not give your permission ? That may be enough to stop him but if not then contact an attorney. I wonder if he had to give up his other designs as terms of the bankruptcy or something like that ( just a guess I have no legal knowledge of these things ) and is hoping to start fresh using yours since it is all he has left?

[399083453]

Originally Posted by madison2015

we paid the architect directly for the plans ~$0.60 per square foot for the drawings, we believe we would have full ownership of the plans as the builder has gone out of business and we paid the architect directly with a check (we have a copy on file) for the plans.

At that low price, I wouldn't be surprised if either of you actually owned the plans. Its possible the architect owns the plans and you paid him for a license to use the plans to build your house along with paper printouts.

Talk to the architect and ask him what you actually purchased.

[luv4horses]

Online plans (available to anyone) appear to run about $1000 to $5000. You paid your architect about $1000 to $2000. So it would be hard to argue that you owned the plans to the exclusion of all other uses by the architect. Hopefully you can get a set of prints reflecting what you did so far, and you can also be given the permission to change those plans. From what I have read, modifying plans requires a legal right. So tread lightly.

[fishbrains]

The ownership of plans would be between you and the architect. Have you talked to them yet?

The builder sounds like a sales guy, and nothing you have said indicated that he has ownership of the documents. Which won't necessarily stop him from using them, but it also won't stop you from using them with a builder of your choice.

I agree with other posters. This is a very inexpensive set of plans.

[coastal chic]

I co-own a construction company and do a lot of the preliminary home design. We hire a draftsman to do the final technical drawings. We have an agreement with the draftsman that my company owns all copyrights, and I immediately register the copyright for each plan.

Homeowners believe that because they pay for the design of the plan, they own the rights to said design. Generally, that is not the case and the architect/ designer/ draftsman owns the copyright unless they have a written agreement stating otherwise.

It's similar to commissioning a painting; even though you pay the artist to paint your custom work, he or she still signs the work at the bottom and the work is still theirs. The CREATOR of an architectural work owns the copyright. Not the person who paid the bill.

You will need to contact the architect and find out if he/she, or the builder, owns the copyright. Once you figure out who owns it, you must get a one-time use agreement, in writing, to use the plan. Otherwise you will open yourself up to a copyright infringement lawsuit. This one-time use agreement can be for $10.