{"id":901341,"date":"2023-06-28T14:58:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T20:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=901341"},"modified":"2023-06-28T14:58:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T20:58:28","slug":"design-services-contract-incorporation-by-reference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/design-services-contract-incorporation-by-reference\/","title":{"rendered":"Incorporation by Reference in Your Design Services Contract\u2013 What Does This Mean, and are You at Risk? (Law Note)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Melissa Dewey Brumback | <a href=\"https:\/\/constructionlawnc.com\/2023\/06\/14\/incorporation-by-reference\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Construction Law in North Carolina<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Has an Owner ever asked you to sign his contract before you started work on a new design project?\u00a0 Rhetorical question\u2013 this happens all the time, right?\u00a0 Especially in commercial work, developers or owners typically are not happy to simply agree to your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/providing-both-design-and-construction-services\/\">Proposal for Services<\/a>, but instead want you to sign *their* contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5352\"><strong>Make sure you know the risks you are taking on- or just say no!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some risks with that you should be aware of \u2014 one of which is the seemingly arcane and legalistic language that reads something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>\u201cThe Developer\u2019s contract with Owner is hereby incorporated by reference.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does this mean?&nbsp; This language means that you have legal responsibilities that you may not even be aware of.&nbsp; If the Developer agreed with the Owner to a certain a time frame (i.e., a&nbsp; \u201ctime is of the essence\u201d clause), or any particular performance standard (LEED certification, for example), then you also have agreed to these terms.&nbsp; Did you know that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So many times when I\u2019m asked to review a contract for an architect, there is language incorporating a document that they never have even seen.&nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;NEVER sign any such contract until you have gotten the document \u201cincorporated by reference\u201d<\/strong>, viewed it with your risk managers, insurance broker, and lawyer, and made the decision that you can live with those terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Clauses that are incorporated *are* legally enforceable.\u00a0 Make sure you know what you are getting into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melissa Dewey Brumback | Construction Law in North Carolina Has an Owner ever asked you to sign his contract before you started work on a new design project?\u00a0 Rhetorical question\u2013 this happens all the time, right?\u00a0 Especially in commercial work, developers or owners typically are not happy to simply agree to your Proposal for Services,&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/design-services-contract-incorporation-by-reference\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Incorporation by Reference in Your Design Services Contract\u2013 What Does This Mean, and are You at Risk? (Law Note)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9],"tags":[9895,224],"class_list":["post-901341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-contracts","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-contract","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Incorporation by Reference in Your Design Services Contract\u2013 What Does This Mean, and are You at Risk? 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