RIBA Contracts Digital system upgrade

Further to our last update to RIBA Contracts Digital last November, here are some further developments that we have recently implemented, which will make the tool easier to use:

Organising rows

• When new rows are inserted within the contract (e.g. the list of contract documents, the project programme, or the list of other client appointments etc), we have added the ability to drag and drop the rows to allow easy prioritisation and re-ordering.

Bespoke Schedule of Services

• When you are creating a bespoke schedule of services, using the RIBA standard services as your base, you can now split the RIBA stages – i.e. have a stage 4a and 4b and select the services that are to be listed under each stage in the bespoke schedule of services.

Sub Clauses

• In the Contract Conditions section within each contract, you can now add new sub clauses under each section.

Payment Gateway

• We have changed the payment gateway from PayPal to Realex, which is now the RIBA’s third-party payment provider. This will hopefully remove the problems that some users have experienced when using PayPal.

Address Book

• We have included an address book, which allows you to store the contact information of your more frequent clients, so that you can import their details directly into the ‘Contracts Details’ section.

Still to come in 2020

The following developments are in the pipeline for later this year:

New features in RIBA Contracts Digital

• We are fully digitising the suite of contract administration forms that accompany the RIBA Building Contracts
• We will be ‘compressing/hiding’ some of the fields that are unselected when you complete a contract, which will help reduce the final size of the contract when printed
• We are in discussions with a third-party digital signature provider to allow contracts to be digitally signed
• We are looking at how we can allow users to create a ‘variation’ to an existing contract. This will allow users the ability to state what the variation is, what the services to be delivered are, and what the fee will be. It will not allow users to open and amend an existing contract

New PSCs that will be launched and added to RIBA Contracts Digital

• We will be releasing the new 2020 edition of PSCs, to align with the revised RIBA Plan of Work
• We will be launching five new PSCs:

1. RIBA Client Adviser PSC
2. RIBA/BIID PSC for Interior Design Services (2 versions – one for domestic clients/projects and one for commercial clients/projects)
3. RIBA PSC for Conservation Architectural Services (2 versions – one for domestic clients/projects and one for commercial clients/projects)

• We are also currently working on a RIBA Design and Build PSC and a Preliminary Services PSC to cover services such as undertaking a feasibility study.