I am close to entering into a contract for FM development with a university
for work at the dept. and school levels.
My 39 years of experience in higher ed helps me proceed with a little
caution. I have seen instances when work was completed and then the party
was sued with the result being a settlement that hinged on simply forgoing
the fee for services performed, while the univ. retained use of the product.
Seems like in some locales that might be standard operating procedure to
avoid payment.
The key is the contract and I am wondering if anyone has had similar
experiences and might wish to offer some advice?
Thank you.
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Rodney Schmidt
Hi Rodney,
If you even suspect this type of behaviour, you have two reasonable choices:
1. Don't go there at all. You cannot win working on this basis if
the behaviour you describe is rampant. They have much deeper pockets
than you have.
I am not cynical here. Both my daughter and her boyfriend have/are
doing university work on a contract basis and I am watching a
pattern of what I consider abusive behaviour that disturbs me a great
deal. They are both young and need the money so they are putting up
with it or now. So I know that all is not well in some parts of
academia.
2. Work on a time spent basis instead of on a contract basis. Bill
twice monthly and cease work if the payment is not forthcoming in a
reasonable time. This is actually how I work with most of my
clients. They are free to stop at any time. I report to them
regularly, at least with every billing. They like it as they are free
to change specs as time goes on and they see economies to be gained.
I am free to indulge them as I am not bound to a fixed price and a
file spec to be delivered. The caveat is that one must always keep
completion in mind and be a proactive development manager in addition
to being the developer.
This does not mean you cannot put forth a list of deliverables, a
development plan etc. It just means that they would have to justify
any claim prior to the last half month as by paying you they are
defacto accepting work to date.
If you go this route, do not get caught in the "Well it has to be
corrected 'cause it's not what we really wanted, so we are not paying
you for the last half month" scenario. Development gets sidetracked.
That is a fact of life in the development world. There are too many
horror stories around to prove it. Reporting is a method by which you
are seriously mitigating the damage that this can do by allowing them
to catch it early.
It is not part of your cost of doing business, it is part of their
cost of doing business. By being proactive in your reporting you are
saving them money, not costing them money.
HTH
Dave McQueen
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David A. McQueen
LICHEN Software
Barrie, ON, Canada
www.lichen-software.com
705-720-9022
