The architect, the quantity surveyor and the project manager

The architect's involvement is mandatory. The Act of 20 February 1939 requires the use of an architect to draw up the plans and supervise the execution of works subject to a building permit (art. 4), subject to exemptions. The scope of that monopoly is covered in detail in the article on the architect and mandatory involvement.

On cost, the code of ethics sets the framework. The code of ethics of the Order of Architects of 16 November 2022 requires designs to be submitted "within the limits of the programme set in the appointment and of the budget", and provides that any change to the programme "must be the subject of an additional agreement stating its financial impact" (art. 16, unofficial translation, as are all quotations of Belgian texts in this article). The architect also assists the client in choosing the contractor "on the best terms of price and quality" (art. 22).

The agreement is in writing at the latest once the appointment has been defined (code of ethics, art. 20). For the client, this is the document in which the budget must appear in figures, with its price date and what it includes (works only or total cost). An oral budget is hard to prove and hard to defend.

Fees are freely negotiated. There is no longer a fee scale: the 2022 code contains none and only provides reference scales for the salaries of employed architects (art. 12). The client therefore compares fee proposals on the content of the appointment, stage by stage, and not against a reference percentage.

The architect must design within the budget, not guarantee the price of the tenders. That liability is in principle an obligation of means, assessed case by case. The trend of published decisions accepts a limited gap between budget and cost and sanctions large overruns; the decisions and their sources are presented in the article on when the architect exceeds the budget.

What partly releases the architect: a brief that changes without a record. If the client changes its programme without a priced convention additionnelle (additional agreement), the link between the overrun and the architect becomes hard to establish.

The architect cannot be a contractor. The 1939 Law declares the two professions incompatible (art. 6), and the code of ethics repeats that incompatibility (art. 10, 1°). It does, however, allow the architect to take part, "with a contractor in particular, in a property services company", provided the architect "retains independence" (art. 10, 2°, b). A client dealing with such a structure asks in writing how that independence is organised.

Independence does not mean accuracy. It guarantees that the architect does not also sell the works being estimated, not that the estimate is right. That is the space for a check by a third party.

An occupation with many names. Le Forem describes the métreur occupation under the job titles of économiste de la construction, métreur-concepteur, métreur-vérificateur and métreur-deviseur (all covered here by quantity surveyor or construction cost consultant). Among the tasks described: calculating "the fairest price" and checking, after the event, the gap between the estimate and actual costs.

For the client, the quantity surveyor fulfils four typical assignments. Each is set out in the contract:

• an elemental estimate at sketch or preliminary design stage;
• a counter-estimate of the architect's estimate, presented in the article on the independent counter-estimate;
• checking the métré (meetstaat, bill of quantities) and analysing the tenders;
• checking the états d'avancement (interim valuations) and forecasting the final cost during the works.

The title is not regulated. Le Forem states that there is "no statutory requirement to practise this occupation". Everything therefore rests on the contract: documents supplied, stages covered, price date, expected breakdown, format of deliverables, time limit, and a declaration of no link with the contractors invited to tender.

The quantity surveyor answers for the quality of the pricing, within the limits of the assignment and the documents received. It does not guarantee the price the market will return, and it does not answer for design choices, which remain those of the architect and the client.

No text organises it: it is for the client to require it. The client asks that the quantity surveyor working for it should not submit a tender on the project it is checking, nor work for a contractor invited to tender. One clause is enough to formalise it.

Homegrade speaks of a maître d'ouvrage délégué (delegated client) for the person to whom the client entrusts part of its role (brochure "Maîtriser son chantier", Brussels-Capital Region). The project manager organises: keeps the programme, coordinates the participants, gathers cost information, prepares decisions and keeps a record of them.

A contractual assignment, with no legal status of its own. Its extent depends on what is written: simple assistance, or a mandate to represent the client for certain acts. The contract says which ones, with what ceilings, and what remains reserved to the client's signature (contracts, extras, acceptance).

The project manager guarantees the organisation of monitoring, not the amount. The task is to warn, document and have decisions taken in time; the project manager answers neither for the design nor for the pricing unless given that assignment. If the project manager prices, the contract must say so.

It is judged by links. A project manager paid by the client alone, with no link to the architect or to the contractors, defends the budget. The contract provides that the project manager declares any such link.

The client also appoints other participants, whose assignment comes from a text and not from the contract: the health and safety coordinator when several contractors are involved on a structure of 500 m² or more (Act of 4 August 1996 and Royal Decree of 25 January 2001), the approved responsable PEB (energy performance adviser) in Wallonia, and the EPB-verslaggever (energy performance reporter) in Flanders, appointed by the bouwheer before the works begin. On a smaller structure, that coordinator is appointed by the designer and then by the party in charge of supervising execution. Their cost is part of the budget; their role is presented in the article on other required participants.

All three fall under compulsory professional civil liability insurance. The Act of 9 May 2019, in force since 1 July 2019, covers architects, surveyors, health and safety coordinators and other construction service providers, meaning any person other than a developer who supplies mainly intangible services for a third party, for payment and on an independent basis (art. 2, 4°). A self-employed quantity surveyor or project manager working for a client fits that description.

The minimum amounts per claim (Act of 9 May 2019, art. 4; 2007 base amounts, indexed):

This cover does not guarantee the budget: the law allows claims relating to quotation or budget overruns, to a lack of control or to errors in cost estimates to be excluded from it (art. 5, 6°). The client therefore reads the exclusions in the policy as closely as the certificate.

The architect is also subject to the ten-year liability insurance of the Act of 31 May 2017 for housing where the architect's involvement is mandatory. The details of these schemes are in the article on compulsory insurance. In practice, the client asks each of them for the certificate before signing.

One rule: each cost task has a single named holder, in writing. The initial budget is set by the client. The project estimate falls to the architect. The counter-estimate, the checking of the bill of quantities and the checking of interim valuations can fall to the quantity surveyor. The dashboard, the warnings and the preparation of decisions can fall to the project manager. The signature stays with the client. The general framework of this division, and who signs what, is set out in the branch article on who manages cost for the client.