What are the rights, obligations and liabilities of clients and consultants in the commission agreement in a construction process?
At the start of a construction project, a client will often engage an architect, engineer or consultant to help him with the design (hereafter: 'consultant'). The legal relationship between the client and his consultant is - if nothing else has been agreed - governed by the legal rules for the commission contract. These legal rules can be found in the first section of title 7.7 of the Dutch Civil Code (art. 7:400 ff. of the Civil Code). The summary statutory regulation has a general and open character and is largely of a regulatory nature. It is therefore common for parties to make further agreements.