Appointment terminated and your design reused: what an architect should record

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. For architects, that means a dated, checkable record of the design exactly as it stood on the day an appointment ended.

Appointments end for many reasons: a budget reset, a change of strategy, a falling-out. What makes the ending hard is what happens next. The client keeps the project, a new architect picks up “the existing drawings”, and months later you see a building or a planning submission that looks familiar.

This guide is about the records that make that situation clearer. It does not decide who may use what. That turns on your contract and the law where the project is. It covers what a standard AIA agreement says about use of drawings after termination, the basic copyright rules in the UK and US as written in the statutes, and a short list of things to record at the moment of termination. It is general information, not legal advice.

What a standard agreement says about use after termination

Start with the contract, because licences are usually set there. The AIA B101-2017 sample is a useful reference. It is a standard form, and signed agreements are often modified, so read yours rather than assuming it matches.

• Authorship and ownership (§7.2). The architect and its consultants “shall be deemed the authors and owners of their respective Instruments of Service”, and retain “all common law, statutory and other reserved rights, including copyrights”.
• The owner’s licence (§7.3). The architect grants the owner “a nonexclusive license to use the Architect’s Instruments of Service solely and exclusively for purposes of constructing, using, maintaining, altering and adding to the Project”, provided the owner “substantially performs its obligations under this Agreement, including prompt payment of all sums due”. If the architect rightfully terminates for cause under §9.4, that licence terminates.
• Use without the architect (§7.3.1). If the owner uses the Instruments of Service “without retaining the authors”, the owner releases the architect from claims arising from that use and agrees to indemnify the architect, subject to the terms of that section. It does not apply if the owner rightfully terminates for cause under §9.4.
• No other rights (§7.4). “no other license or right shall be deemed granted or implied”, and the owner may not assign or sublicense without the architect’s prior written agreement.
• Termination for convenience (§§9.5 to 9.7, 9.9). The owner may terminate on not less than seven days’ written notice, pays for services performed, and the form provides blanks for a termination fee and a “Licensing Fee if the Owner intends to continue using the Architect’s Instruments of Service”. The owner’s rights after termination are set out in Article 7 and §9.7.

The takeaway for records: what the client may do with the drawings after termination depends on which clause applies and whether its conditions (such as payment) were met. That makes the date and the exact content of what you had issued by then important.

The basic copyright rules, as the statutes put them

This section describes what the statutes say. Who owns copyright in a particular set of drawings, and whether a licence can be implied, depends on the facts and local law, so take advice. For a longer discussion, see who owns architectural drawings.

• UK. Under section 4 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, an “artistic work” includes a graphic work, which includes any “diagram, map, chart or plan”, and “a work of architecture being a building or a model for a building”. Section 16 gives the copyright owner exclusive rights, including to copy the work. Section 90(3) says an assignment of copyright “is not effective unless it is in writing signed by or on behalf of the assignor”.
• US. 17 U.S.C. §101 defines an “architectural work” as “the design of a building as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, including a building, architectural plans, or drawings”, and §102(a)(8) lists architectural works as a protected category. §102(b) says protection does not extend to “any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery”. The Copyright Office’s Circular 41 adds that copyright does not protect “individual standard features” such as windows and doors, or “standard configurations of spaces”.
• International. The Berne Convention lists “works of drawing, painting, architecture” and “plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relative to … architecture” among protected works (Article 2(1)).

Two practical points follow. Copyright is about expression, not general ideas, so a later design that answers the same brief is not automatically a copy. And a licence, an assignment and a termination clause are all about what was agreed, which makes records of what you issued and when a starting point rather than an answer.

The moments to record

Make an “as-left” snapshot

1. Freeze the latest issued sets and the live working set as they stand, without tidying.
2. Export a revision register showing what was issued, to whom and when.
3. Create a TimeBind of the snapshot in the TimeBinder app (up to 10 files per TimeBind, or a single zip). Your browser makes the fingerprint and the files stay on your device.
4. Store the certificate with the snapshot and the termination correspondence.
5. Handing files over? Keep a receipt of what was sent. The free Handover Receipt tool can help.

Check your contract for what you must hand over, and on what terms.

If you later see the design reused

Resist the urge to send an angry email. A calm sequence works better:

1. Write down what you saw, with dates and sources. Do not alter any files.
2. Compare against your dated record. Your TimeBind certificates can show that your issued sets existed by the recorded times and still match.
3. Check the contract position. Was the licence conditional on payment? Was termination for cause or for convenience? Was a licensing fee agreed?
4. Get advice. A short letter from a lawyer, or a factual query about what documents the new architect received, is usually better than an accusation.

If the client simply did not pay for your work, what to keep if a client used your design without paying covers that scenario in more detail.

How a TimeBind fits, and what it does not show

Your appointment sets who may use what. A TimeBind adds something the contract cannot: a record, held outside your own systems, that the exact design files you hold existed no later than the date you recorded, and still match. That narrows the factual argument about what existed when the appointment ended.

A TimeBind shows that this exact file existed no later than the recorded time and still matches its fingerprint. TimeBinder makes the fingerprint in your browser and the file stays on your device. It does not show who made the file, who owns it, or that anyone agreed to it. It does not show who made the design, who owns it, that anyone copied it, or what licence the client has. It complements your contract, the RIBA or AIA documents you use, and legal advice; it does not replace them. This is general information, not legal advice.

See the glossary for work made for hire, copyright assignment and the Berne Convention.

Sources checked

Checked on 10 November 2026. We quote only what these documents say and mark where a point depends on your own contract or local law.

• AIA Document B101-2017 (sample, contractdocs.aia.org): §§7.2 to 7.4, 9.4 to 9.9. Standard form; signed agreements are often modified
• Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, ss. 4, 16, 90 (legislation.gov.uk): artistic work, owner’s exclusive rights, assignment in writing
• 17 U.S.C. §§101, 102 (Cornell LII): architectural work definition; §102(a)(8) and §102(b)
• US Copyright Office, Circular 41: Copyright Registration of Architectural Works: what the Office says is and is not protected
• Berne Convention (WIPO Lex): Article 2(1) protected works

Record the design as it stands

Make the fingerprint in your browser, keep the files on your device, and store the certificate with your as-left snapshot. Your first Pooled TimeBind is free, with no credit card required. After that, Pooled TimeBinds start from US$5, and an ASAP TimeBind is US$15. Prices checked 10 November 2026. See plans and pricing. Open TimeBinder