INTRODUCTION
No engineer should undertake to perform services without a clear understanding with the client (owner) concerning the services to be performed and the rights, duties and responsibilities of both parties to the
agreement. In all cases, such understandings should be reduced to writing. Reliance on oral agreements will usually result in difficulties later.
Professional engineering services provided by consultants may vary
from a single brief activity to complete services for a large complex project, beginning with studies and extending through design, construction
and initial operation. The extent of the engineer's agreement with the
owner should vary with the scope of services. As a practical matter it is
not appropriate to prepare a 16-page agreement for services involving
only a few hours of the engineer's time and compensation amounting
to a few hundred dollars. For such services some consultants use a single page form to set forth the bare essentials, including a brief description of the services, time of performance, and manner of payment. No
standard forms of this type are known to be available for general use
by consultants. Other contracts may require more extensive engineering
services (e.g., a study and report) but no design or construction. The
forms of agreement for these kinds of services certainly require more
than a single page, but need not be as extensive as an agreement which
includes design and services during construction. Standard forms of
agreement are published and available for study and report services.