Unpaid, over scope and asked for the CAD files: what a freelance engineer can do

A freelance structural engineer posted to Reddit's r/StructuralEngineering on Nov. 5 that a job had grown "far beyond our agreement," was "still unpaid," and that the client now wanted the engineer's CAD files. Small design firms and trade subs know the sequence. Three sets of rules decide how much leverage is left.

Ownership comes first. A U.S. Copyright Office circular says a commissioned work counts as work made for hire only if it falls in one of nine listed categories and both sides signed a written agreement calling it that. Building drawings are not on the list, which covers items such as translations, compilations and atlases. If a work fails those tests, the person who made it is the author and owner. The exception is an engineer who counts as an employee under the circular's agency test, which asks who supplied the tools, how the work was paid and whether taxes were withheld.

Contract forms tie use of the files to payment. Section 7.3 of the AIA's B101-2017 owner-architect agreement makes the owner's license to use the design documents depend on the owner performing, including prompt payment. Construction lawyer J. Kent Holland wrote that under the 2017 edition the license only kicks in once the architect has been paid, and that the form bills work added during the project as Additional Services. A freelancer can copy that structure: a written scope, extra work only on signed approval, native files released on payment.

Stamping is the other trap. The NCEES Model Rules, which state licensing boards use when writing their own rules, say an engineer may seal only work done under that engineer's responsible charge. A successor engineer who takes over someone else's design must redo the professional work, including calculations and code research; only drafting can carry over. Revisions by anyone other than the original engineer must be signed and sealed by whoever made them. Unfinished sheets can go out without a seal if they are marked "PRELIMINARY, NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION," the model rules say.