What should an Architectural Services Agreement include under Thai law?

1. Definitions and Interpretation
2. Appointment
3. The Services and Stages
4. Licences and Professional Team
5. Building Permit
6. Construction Budget
7. Tender and Contractor Selection
8. Changes and Additional Services
9. Construction-Stage Services
10. Standard of Care and Client Information
11. Fees and Payment
12. Suspension of the Project
13. Intellectual Property
14. Digital Tools and Artificial Intelligence
15. Confidentiality and Personal Data
16. Insurance
17. Liability
18. Force Majeure
19. Termination
20. Assignment and Subcontracting
21. Notices
22. Governing Law and Disputes
23. Anti-Bribery
24. Independent Parties
25. General

• Check the Lead Architect's licence number and level on the Architect Council of Thailand website, and the engineers' licences on the Council of Engineers website when their names are added to Schedule 2. The level must be enough for the size and type of the building.
• If the Architect is a foreign firm, check that the person who will sign the permit drawings holds a Thai architect's licence, and that anyone working in Thailand holds a work permit.
• Give the Architect the title deed, the land survey and any soil investigation report (Clause 10.2). Check the town planning zone of the land before the concept stage — it can limit the use, height and floor area of the building.
• Appoint licensed engineers under separate contracts within 20 Business Days after the Approval of the schematic design (Clause 4.3). Delay in appointing them delays the whole design.

• Approve or comment on each Stage in writing within … Business Days (Clause 3.3). Silence is not an approval, but a late decision gives the Architect more time.
• Before asking for a change after a Stage has been approved, ask for the Architect's quotation in writing (Clause 8.2). Changes late in the design are the most common cause of extra fees.
• Keep the cost estimates the Architect gives you (Clause 6.1). If you approve an estimate that is already over budget, you lose the right to a free redesign.

• A Thai company or partnership that pays a Thai architect withholds 3% of each payment for services and gives the Architect a withholding tax certificate (Clause 11.5). If the Architect is outside Thailand, a different withholding rate and a tax treaty may apply; check before the first payment.
• This Agreement is a hire of work for stamp duty purposes. Duty is 1 THB for every 1,000 THB or part of 1,000 THB of the fees. On the total fee you entered, the duty on the original is the amount the system calculates from the figures entered, and each counterpart carries the amount the system calculates from the figures entered.Because the Fees are in …, convert the total fee to Thai Baht at the exchange rate on the date of signing and calculate the duty on the Baht amount. The Architect pays the duty (Clause 11.6) within 15 days after signing, in money to the Revenue Department if the fee is 1,000,000 THB or more, or through the e-Stamp Duty system if the Agreement is signed electronically. An unstamped agreement cannot be used as evidence in a Thai civil court until the duty and a surcharge are paid.
• With a percentage fee, the fee changes when the construction price is agreed. If the final fee is higher than the estimate, additional stamp duty is payable on the difference.

• The Owner signs and submits the Building Permit application (Clause 5.1). Do not let any contractor start work that needs the permit before it is issued.
• Site visits by the Architect are periodic observation, not full-time supervision (Clause 9.2). If the building needs a licensed construction supervisor, make sure one is appointed and notified to the local authority before work starts — the Architect has agreed to act as supervisor for the architectural works, so ask for its signed letter of consent.
• Give the Contractor only drawings issued by the Architect for construction. Renderings and AI-generated images are not construction information (Clause 14.2).

• The Architect keeps the copyright. You may use the design to build, use, repair, extend and sell this Project, but not to build it again elsewhere (Clause 13.1).- Copyright passes to you Stage by Stage as each Stage is paid (Clause 13.1). Keep proof of payment for each Stage.
• Ask for the native CAD and BIM files when each Stage is paid (Clause 13.5). They save money on future alterations.

• A company signs through the director or directors named in its latest company affidavit, with the company seal if its rules require one. Electronic signatures and signed PDF copies are valid (Clause 25.5); keep the final signed file unchanged with all three Schedules.
• A Thai court works in Thai, so a certified Thai translation will be needed if a case is filed.

Compiled from the notes that accompany the English contract templates on this site, published by Phuwara Krobtaku (ภูวรา ครอบตะคุ), Thai attorney-at-law, licence no. 477/2558. The short answer and summary at the top of this page are put together by the site from the template's clause headings and notes. Statutes are quoted only in the official Thai text: Thai is the only official language of Thai legislation, and an unofficial translation can mislead. Article registry OKC-2A41B3. If you reuse this content, please credit the author and link to the original.