DIR 01/15 | Drawings, Design Documents and Intellectual Property of a Perit
It has come to the Kamra’s attention that Periti are frequently facing demands by their Client/s to provide a copy of drawings or other design documents in digital editable format.
Drawings, illustrations and/or other design documents are the intellectual property of the Perit that prepared them and there exists no obligation to provide these to a third party save for the purposes of statutory requirements and provision of a printed copy to the Client.
Although the Clients reimburse Periti for their professional services, with respect to designs, drawings and other design-related documents created by the Periti, the Client is entitled solely to their use and acquires no other rights over them.
Although not obliged to do so, Periti may choose to provide a copy of the relevant documents to the Client in locked digital format (such as Pdf) but there exists no obligation to provide same in an editable digital format (such as dwg files) unless this is specifically established in the Agreement between the Perit and the Client, which Agreement must be in accordance with Article 20 of Tariff K.
In the event that a Perit does decide (voluntarily and without obligation) to provide a Client or any other relevant third party with copy of such documents in editable format, then he is within his rights in demanding whatever remuneration he considers appropriate, over and above any other remuneration received in respect of professional services rendered, save where this is precluded by Agreement as outlined in the previous paragraph.
In the case of surveys of existing property however, where the measurements are taken and the relevant drawings of the building or property in its existing state are prepared by the Perit, in this case alone, the Client has the right to request provision of such drawings in editable format from the Perit, given that such survey includes no additional input of creative design work or similar by the Perit and is merely a record of the existing state of affairs.
Christopher Mintoff
President
