Architectural contracts with Claude: define the commission before clauses
Project-management contract: what the Code of Professional Conduct requires, mandatory clauses and a drafting method.
By Educasium
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An architect agrees to start design studies for an extension project after an email exchange and a verbal agreement on fees. The site work moves forward, a disagreement arises over the scope of the commission — was site supervision included or not — and no written document settles it. This situation, more common than one might think among independent architects, illustrates why the project-management contract is not an optional formality reserved for large projects: it is the document that fixes, before any work begins, what each party must do, for how much, and how far.
This article details exactly what French professional regulation says about the written-contract requirement, what a compliant project-management contract must contain, how to choose the right commission and fee arrangement, and a method for drafting it without missing an essential clause.
Summary
- The project-management contract: a deontological duty, not a choice
- What a compliant project-management contract must contain
- Choosing the right type of commission and fee arrangement
- Drafting the contract step by step
- When a standard contract is not enough
- What we observe among independent architects
- Training to make contracts more reliable
- Frequently asked questions
The project-management contract: a deontological duty, not a choice
A French architect is required to conclude a written contract with the client before any professional engagement. This requirement is deontological in nature, enforced through disciplinary sanction: it does not, in itself, condition the civil validity of the agreement reached with the client, which is assessed under the ordinary rules of contract law.
What the Code of Professional Conduct for Architects says
Article 11 of the French Code of Professional Conduct for Architects, in the version in force since the 1 July 2026 reform, provides that "every professional engagement of the architect is the subject of a prior written agreement with the client, defining the nature and scope of the missions or interventions and the terms of remuneration." This agreement must also explicitly incorporate the code's fundamental rules governing the relationship between the architect and the client, as also confirmed by the Ordre des architectes in its reminder on the need for a written contract.
What a missing contract changes — and what it does not
A verbal agreement, or a simple email exchange sufficiently precise about the commission and the price, can be enough to form a valid contract under civil law: the meeting of the parties' wills on the object and the price does not, in itself, require a written document. The absence of a written agreement therefore does not automatically void the commitment made with the client. It does, however, expose the architect to a disciplinary sanction before the regional chamber of the Ordre, whose function is precisely to hear breaches of professional conduct, not to compensate the client. An architect who starts a commission without a written contract therefore takes on a double risk: a certain disciplinary risk, and a real contractual risk as soon as a disagreement concerns something never put in writing — exact scope, fees, or liability in the event of a dispute.
What a compliant project-management contract must contain
A compliant project-management contract covers, at minimum, four families of clauses: the precise purpose of the commission, fees and their terms, the architect's insurance, and termination and dispute-resolution conditions. A contract that omits any one of them leaves a zone of potential disagreement open for the entire duration of the project.
Purpose, phases and deliverables
The contract must describe the project, the mission phases actually commissioned — from sketch design (ESQ) to assistance with handover (AOR), in whole or in part — and the deliverables expected at each stage. A commission can be complete or partial: nothing requires including all nine standardized phases of project management, but the contract must make that boundary clear, so that neither party assumes a service the other never commissioned.
Fictional example: a contract commissions the ESQ-to-PRO phases plus the DCE (tender documents), but explicitly excludes construction-phase supervision (DET), since the client has hired a separate site manager. The contract must then avoid any generic "site supervision" clause that would contradict that exclusion, or risk creating ambiguity over who is responsible for site coordination.
Fees, insurance and liability
An architect's fees are freely negotiated with the client, as the Ordre des architectes points out: no official schedule imposes a percentage or an amount. The contract must nonetheless state, unambiguously, the fee method chosen, its amount or calculation formula, and the payment terms for the deposits and progress invoices that follow from it. It must also carry the reference of the ten-year (décennale) insurance taken out under Article L241-1 of the French Insurance Code, as well as the termination and dispute-resolution conditions applicable in the event of disagreement between the parties.
Choosing the right type of commission and fee arrangement
The choice of commission type directly determines what the contract must contain: a full commission and a one-off intervention are not drafted the same way, nor at the same point in the project.
| Commission type | Phases covered | When to choose it | Contractual point to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full project-management commission | ESQ to AOR, or most phases | New build or major renovation with site supervision | Check that every commissioned phase is explicitly listed, with no generic "site supervision" clause added by mistake |
| Partial commission (design phases only) | ESQ to DCE, without construction-phase supervision | Client who manages tendering and contractor supervision themselves | Explicitly exclude construction-phase supervision (DET) to avoid any ambiguity over site liability |
| One-off commission (engagement letter) | A limited intervention: feasibility, opinion, expert assessment | Short consultation, before or without commitment to a full commission | The lighter format must not replace a contract once the commission expands along the way |
| Commission with planned amendments | Additional assignments billed separately | Project whose programme may still evolve | Set out the amendment-acceptance process in the initial contract, rather than improvising it mid-project |
Drafting the contract step by step
Drafting a project-management contract follows a logical order, which avoids locking in a clause before the one it depends on has been checked.
Step 1: Verify the identities and documents of both parties. Name or business name, address, SIRET number and Ordre registration number for the architect; full identity and status (individual, company, co-ownership body) for the client, which some clauses of the contract depend on.
Step 2: Define the exact scope of the commission. Included phases, deliverables expected at each one, inputs the client must provide, and explicit exclusions — a point that matters even more the shorter or more partial the commission.
Step 3: Choose the fee method and link it to the accepted proposal. Lump sum, breakdown by phase, or time-based: the contract must carry over the method and amount already discussed with the client, never a default method suggested by a generic template.
Step 4: Build in the mandatory clauses and check them one by one. Ten-year insurance and its reference, intellectual property over the documents produced, termination conditions, and dispute-resolution terms are among the clauses a project-management contract cannot omit.
Step 5: Have the draft reviewed before signature. A contract prepared from a template, with or without AI assistance, remains a draft document: it must be reviewed against the commission actually agreed, and by a legal professional as soon as the contractual arrangement departs from a standard commission, before any signature.
When a standard contract is not enough
A standard contract, however complete, does not automatically cover every situation an architect may encounter.
A commission involving several clients — a co-ownership body, a self-build collective — often calls for a finer contractual allocation of commitments and payments than a standard contract provides on its own, and is best reviewed by a legal professional before signature. A project whose programme is still unsettled at the time of contracting — a client still torn between an extension and adding a storey, for instance — does not sit well with a contract locked onto a full scope: an initial, limited commission, later completed by an amendment as the programme becomes clearer, better protects the architect against an unanticipated scope change. Finally, a contract never replaces checking the client's own insurance and authorizations when the client itself acts as builder or developer: these are points to verify separately, before signature, not clauses a standard contract can guarantee on its own.
What we observe among independent architects
In our exchanges with independent architects about their contracts, the sticking point is almost never drafting the clauses themselves: an architect knows the commission and knows what to charge for it. What costs time is adapting a standard contract to every new project — retrieving the last version used, checking that no phase has been forgotten or mistakenly added since, or adapting a contract built for a full commission to a more limited intervention. That is repetitive, low-value work, not a lack of rigor — and it is exactly the kind of task a well-structured document template removes, without taking away any of the professional judgment on scope and fees, which remains entirely in the architect's hands.
Training to make contracts more reliable
Setting up a contract template once and for all is not enough: it also needs to be adapted from one project to the next without losing time or missing a clause. For an architect practising as a self-employed professional (NAF code 7111Z in France), the FIFPL fund covers part of the cost of Qualiopi-certified training under 2026 criteria set at €300 per day and €900 per year, with e-learning capped at 50% of the daily rate. This funding must be arranged before training starts, not after.
Frequently asked questions
Is an unwritten project-management contract valid?
On a strictly civil-law basis, yes: a verbal agreement or an email exchange sufficiently precise about the commission and the price can be enough to form a contract, since a contract's validity is not, under general contract law, conditioned on the existence of a written document. On the professional side, however, an architect who starts a commission without a written contract breaches an explicit deontological requirement, which exposes them to a disciplinary sanction before the Ordre des architectes, regardless of the civil validity of the agreement reached with the client. This double reading is exactly why a verbal contract, even where valid between the parties, remains a practice to avoid: it protects against neither a disciplinary sanction nor a later dispute over what was actually agreed.
What does an architect risk by working without a written contract?
Two distinct risks that should not be confused: a disciplinary risk, since the absence of a written agreement is itself a breach of the Code of Professional Conduct for Architects that the regional disciplinary chamber can sanction; and a practical contractual risk, more diffuse, stemming from the lack of written proof in the event of a disagreement over the commission's scope, the fees, or possible liability. In practice, the second risk is often the more costly one, even though it is not directly sanctioned as such. It is precisely this second risk that systematically drafting a written contract, even a brief one for a limited intervention, removes before a disagreement ever arises.
Are an architect's fees governed by an official schedule?
No, there is no official schedule: since a 1986 ordinance on price and competition freedom, publishing indicative price schedules for regulated professions is prohibited, as the Ordre des architectes points out. An architect's fees are therefore freely negotiated with each client, depending on the nature of the project, its complexity and the fee method chosen; only the signed contract is evidence of the amount agreed for a given commission. A contract template that suggests a default percentage without verification is only repeating a generic example: it must always be replaced with the amount actually negotiated with that specific client.
What is the difference between an engagement letter and a project-management contract?
An engagement letter is a lighter format, suited to a limited intervention — a consultation, a feasibility study, a one-off opinion — that is not intended to cover a full project-management commission. The project-management contract, more complete, is required as soon as the commission covers several standardized phases with a long-term commitment, fees structured by stage, and insurance and termination clauses specific to a construction project. Using an engagement letter for a commission that in fact expands to several phases still triggers the same deontological requirement for a written contract, which the initial lightweight format does not fully cover.
Must a project-management contract cover every phase, from sketch design to handover?
No, nothing requires including all nine standardized project-management phases in a single contract: a commission can legitimately be limited to design studies, to contractor tendering, or to a different combination of phases, depending on what the client wants to entrust to the architect. What matters is that the contract makes that scope explicit and keeps it consistent with the fees invoiced, to prevent either party from assuming a phase not commissioned is included as the project proceeds. When a commission initially limited to design studies later expands to site supervision, that expansion must be formalized through an amendment rather than inferred from a verbal agreement reached during the project.
A compliant project-management contract rests on three pillars that do not change from one project to the next: a deontological duty of a written agreement to be respected systematically, a commission scope made explicit phase by phase, and fees unambiguously tied to the fee method actually negotiated. Once that foundation is in place, it is exactly what the project-management-contract generator applies automatically — an eleven-article structure, mandatory clauses included — while leaving the architect the decision on scope and fees.
Before contracting, our architect fee-proposal guide details the precontractual document that generally prepares this same information, and our method for drafting an amendment explains how to evolve an already-signed contract without rewriting the clauses it does not affect.
Training 100% fundable via OPCO/FIFPL. Qualiopi-certified programme. To structure your contracts and administrative documents with AI as part of our AI for architectural management training, contact Educasium and specify your status (employee, self-employed, business owner) and your goal.