These standard terms summarise the basis on which Lovatt Construction Consultants Ltd accepts and performs engagements. The full engagement letter issued at the start of each piece of work carries the operative contract.
Lovatt Construction Consultants Ltd is a company registered in England & Wales, trading from 58 Linden Road, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 4HB. The firm is an RICS-regulated firm and carries professional indemnity insurance. Every engagement is led by Dave Lovatt MRICS · MCIOB · MQSI · FACQP · MiConstM as named principal.
No work is performed until an engagement letter has been issued by Lovatt, counter-signed by the client and the fee paid against the relevant Stripe Payment Link or arrangement set out in the letter. The engagement letter is the operative contract; these terms summarise its standard form.
Fees are quoted individually after a brief intake call. The fee proposal sets out scope, deliverables, lead time, fee and payment milestones. Stripe Payment Links are used for fee collection; bank transfer is available on request. Late payment interest accrues at 4% per annum above the Bank of England base rate from day fifteen of overdue payment.
Each engagement is bespoke. Variations to scope are quoted before instruction. Work outside the agreed scope is charged at our standard rates and only with the client's prior written consent.
Each chartered deliverable is personally reviewed and signed by Dave Lovatt before issue. No deliverable leaves the practice under any other signature.
Aggregate liability under any engagement is capped at the lower of (a) the total fee paid under that engagement, or (b) a commercial cap agreed in writing in the engagement letter. The cap does not apply to liability that cannot be limited as a matter of law — death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other matter where statutory liability prevents capping. Consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, and third-party claims are excluded.
Lovatt Construction Consultants Ltd maintains professional indemnity insurance appropriate to the engagement value and risk profile, renewed annually. The current PI certificate is available on request.
Lovatt Construction Consultants Ltd and 1 Oak Projects Ltd share common ownership. Dave Lovatt holds a 50% interest in 1 Oak Projects. We disclose this on every engagement letter, on the home and about pages of this site, and wherever 1 Oak is being considered as a contractor on a Lovatt-advised scheme. Where any conflict could arise, the disclosure is recorded in writing on the engagement letter and an independent QS leads contractor evaluation and procurement.
Each party will keep the other's confidential information confidential and use it only for the purposes of the engagement. The obligation survives termination for six years. We may name clients and reference projects at a high level in case studies and marketing — but we will not disclose fee or other confidential commercial detail without written consent.
Lovatt retains the IP in working files, methodologies and templates. The client receives a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free licence to use the deliverables for the relevant project, including disclosure to funders, insurers, contractors and successors in title. Re-purposing deliverables for a different project is a separate engagement.
Lovatt processes personal data in line with UK GDPR. Personal data submitted via the website enquiry form is processed only for the purpose of responding to the enquiry and is not shared with third parties or used for marketing without separate consent.
Either party may terminate an engagement on fourteen days' written notice. Lovatt invoices for work performed up to termination plus any committed costs that cannot be cancelled. Liability, PI, confidentiality, IP and dispute clauses survive termination.
If anything goes wrong, raise it with Dave Lovatt directly in the first instance — dave@lovattconsultants.co.uk. Most issues resolve at this stage in writing within seven working days. Unresolved matters are referred to the RICS Dispute Resolution Service for mediation, and (if mediation fails) to a single arbitrator under the rules of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, with the seat of arbitration in Newcastle upon Tyne, applying the law of England and Wales.
These terms and any engagement letter are governed by the law of England and Wales, subject to clause 13.
These terms are reviewed at each annual PI renewal. Material changes are notified in the next engagement letter issued after the change.