Another common question from new architects moving firms - or going it alone
I am setting up my own practice. What should I do if I use information from jobs I designed in the practices I used to work for as promotional material for my new practice?
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adam_64
What about if your previous practice has gone into administration? If the company owned the rights to the work and now the company ceases to trade who would you have to ask permission from, if anyone?
jon steven
This becomes an extremely sensitive subject when a practice suddenly loses a "star" employee, for whatever reason, then closes ranks by issuing press releases about particular projects, and how they were done with an extraordinary amount of teamwork, no one individual was solely responsible, blah blah..I think everyone who has been in this situation knows the routine. Clients may see good people leaving as a problem for them either on existing commissions or future work and sometimes walk off together with the employee. Having had personal and rather unpleasant similar experiences myself with a practice that basically "hijacked" employees work without even giving due recognition, I can only advise you tread carefully as you may get lawyers letters dropping through the door. Later in your career you will be faced with a similar situation with one of your own employees. Another issue you may wish to consider is claiming to have worked on projects that have gone belly up and end up in arbitration after you leave and have promoted them as your "own".
Richard Brindley
The simple principle to follow is always to be truthful and clear. Also, never oversell yourself or be economical with the truth. This is a basic tenet of the RIBA and Arb codes of professional conduct.
It is quite legitimate in your new practice brochure and website, or your personal CV and portfolio, to explain and illustrate your previous work as long as you acknowledge the practice you were working for and the contribution you made to that work.
The intellectual property right and copyright of the work you do as an employee is likely to belong to your employer unless it is specifically stated otherwise in your employment contract. Any drawings, photographs or written information will belong to the practice you worked for.
Therefore you should seek the written permission of that practice to use any of their material.
Sometimes the client will have obtained the copyright and even the intellectual property right for the design and any material on their project. If this is the case, then your previous practice would have to get their client’s permission for you to use it.
There is nothing to stop you using your own photographs of your previous projects, if that view is in the public domain. This includes photos of external elevations viewable from the street of publicly accessible areas. Photos of private areas not available to the public would require the permission of the client, and possibly the occupant.
When you start employing your first staff in your new practice, it is worth addressing this issue in their employment contracts. Guidance is available in the RIBA Good Practice Guide on Employment.
So for any information from your previous work for other practices that you wish to use to promote your own practice, or even in your CV for a new employer, you should obtain written permission from the relevant previous employer.
It is also sensible to get their approval for how you intend to acknowledge them in the information such as: “This is the Stirling Prize-winning building. I designed the door handles while working as a project architect for Guru Architects. It also won the best designed ironmongery award from the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers.”
del hossain
Every practice has to begin somewhere and few have a back catalogue of works that they can publish and truely claim to be their own. Like portfolio's your website will parade your history and what you have worked on. This does have to be credited back to past practices and you have to be honest about this, but even in doing this, there are ways to demonstrate positive marketing. The problems usually occur when credit is taken for things that have not been done by you and permission has not been sought as this could lead to all kinds of potential litigious headaches.
Most practices expect that atleast 1 in every 10 members of its staff may leave and eventually set up in practice, so it is not an unexpected part of being an employer. The dilema remains for you as to whether you would want to openly credit and indirectly market past practices.
If you have left your practice on good terms there is no reason not to mention them and indirectly this can also help your web optimisation if you are running your site in html.
peter _3
The above advice is well made and should not be set aside lightly.
One problem I have encountered is an attempt by the previous practice to claim that you were not, in fact, involved in the work and I think that this underscores the point above about not overselling yourself. You need to be accurate in your role on a project and ideally be able to back this up; clear attribution of role, for example noting you were part of a team, will also help.
Use of images can also be interesting - it is tempting to use professional images or other shots which are likely to be copyright of the previous architects, and this should be avoided unless you have their express agreement. Ultiamtely, rather than go back and forth, it may be simply easier to get your own done. And if you have good photographs, drawings are usually not required for PR material.