We have represented interior designers and design firms in a wide variety of projects, ranging from hotels and casinos to offices, residential projects, and projects for community organizations. Our work includes negotiating contracts, preparing custom proposal and contract templates, and counseling interior designers on issues unique to their sphere of the design world.
Comprehensive Contracting Strategies for Design Firms
We developed a comprehensive contracting strategy for a multifaceted design firm that provides architecture, interior design, furniture, furnishings, and equipment (FF&E) design and procurement, and construction management services. This included tailored suites of American Institute of Architects (AIA) and non-AIA agreements, a digital data licensing agreement, and refinements to the interior designer’s proposal writing strategy, all aimed at helping our client to market and propose the firm’s diverse service offerings while using smart contracts to mitigate risk.
Hospitality and Hotel Project Experience
We have represented interior designers in significant hospitality projects. For one casino hotel, we represented an interior design firm to negotiate a $275,000 consulting services agreement for the redesign of the lobby, corridors, and 65 guest rooms. The agreement delineated the scope of the interior designer’s responsibilities, excluding architectural and engineering services, which were provided by other design firms. For another casino hotel renovation, we negotiated a $1.5 million services agreement covering both architecture and interior design, including furniture, furnishings, and equipment (FF&E) selection and installation oversight, compliance with gaming regulations, and intellectual property provisions.
We also advised an interior designer to negotiate AIA Document C401-2017, Agreement Between Architect and Consultant with an international architecture firm for a hotel project, focusing on insurability, scope, and flow-down risks. In another project, we advised an architecture firm negotiating an AIA Document B152–2019, Agreement Between Owner and Architect for Interior Design and Furniture, Furnishings, and Equipment (FF&E) Design Services, agreement for interior design and FF&E services for a tower project with a $2.2 million budget.
Office and Corporate Interiors
Our experience extends to office and corporate interiors. We negotiated a $150,000 agreement for interior design and furniture, furnishings, and equipment (FF&E) design services on a 56,000 sq ft derivatives trading firm office renovation, and a $210,000 agreement for interior and lighting design services in a multi-story office renovation, with a detailed scope matrix clarifying the division of services between our client and the project architect.
Residential Interior Design Protection
In the residential sector, we have negotiated agreements with enhanced protections for interior designers who serve as “purchasing agents” for furniture, furnishings, and equipment (FF&E), contractually safeguarding the interior designer from dissatisfied homeowners. We get owners to agree by contract to reimburse our interior designer clients for owner-approved FF&E merchandise purchased from third-party vendors, regardless of potential owner aesthetic dissatisfaction (dye lots, color, wood graining, marble veining, etc.) with any such FF&E once it arrives on site. This protects interior designers from financial risk arising from owner-vendor disagreements. We also prepared an amendment to an AIA Document B104–2017, Abbreviated Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect, to expand an architect’s contract on a luxury residential project to include interior design and FF&E procurement.
Intellectual Property Protections
We also help designers with intellectual property protections. For a firm repeatedly challenged on photography rights, we drafted a custom clause ensuring free and indemnified usage rights for images of its work.
Supporting Interior Designers Across Sectors
Together, these matters show our ability to support interior designers in contract negotiation, project delivery, and risk management across commercial, residential, and institutional settings.
Are you an interior designer who wants to protect your projects and intellectual property? Contact Baker Law Group for construction and design guidance.
