Professional Services Agreements is a practical guide to identifying, understanding and managing the legal and commercial risks inherent in these agreements, assisting the professional in making the correct commercial decisions on whether, or not, to accept these risks.


This accessible guide provides a step-by-step explanation of how professional services agreements are formed, the scope of the obligations and rights, possible methods of managing the risks, the scope and limitations of professional indemnity insurance, how liabilities can arise and the ways in which disputes can be resolved.


• Includes supporting commentary on the benchmark professional service agreements and their differences, including the RIBA, ACE, RICS and, new in this edition, NEC3 PSC contract.

• Covers changes to the law governing payment and adjudication under new construction contracts, as a result of amendments to the Construction Act.

• Describes the cover provided by typical professional indemnity insurance.

• Provides sufficient background information to enable a professional to realise when they need advice, from insurers, brokers or lawyers, and how to understand that advice.


Professional Service Agreements is an essential reference for consultants, project managers, architects and quantity surveyors, as well as their legal advisors and insurers, enabling them to better understand and negotiate the contracts, prepared by the client, for their services.