Under copyright law the person who "translates an idea into a fixed, tangible medium of expression" is considered the "author" so in this case, where the design ideas have already been put into a CAD drawing, the project owner has the right to claim authorship if he/she so wishes and would not be "playing fast and loose with a fiction". However, the phrase "finishing touches" does not make it very clear what modifications the architect will make or if he/she will be professionally responsible for those modifications or if they involve structural, waterproofing, code compliance, and/or material and installation specifications. The architect could just be correcting the roof plane geometry on the roof plan and the elevations and/or adding dimensions with a more sophisticated CAD system. If the architect does not put his/her name (and/or stamp) on the documents and doesn't intend to take responsibility for them (must take all or no responsibility under typical registration law) then the owner can be the author and have a stronger claim to ownership. On the other hand, if the owner wants the architect to take full responsibility for the documents in their entirety and to put his/her name (and/or stamp) on them, then the architect will be the author. In either case, ownership of the documents and the copyright can be established by modifying the typical document ownership clause in a standard Owner-Architect agreement form. I can't advise you which form to use because I don't know enough about the project or the architect's expected role but don't use the term, "work for hire" anywhere in the agreement unless you want to be responsible for the architect's work.

Well, bless your heart and thanks for that. So nice to see your post. PLEASE be sure and post a picture of your chair when you finish it. I'll bet you could set up a space outside. I bought a new wet saw, and have been working outside for two days cutting plates. Yeah, it's hot, but working in the shade isn't too bad. Remember, your chair was an inspiration for my project for my Mo - the coneflower. I LOVE that chair.

Nevermind. I found their card hanging on the bulletin board in my husband's office.

I was lucky to find a General Contractor for my first kitchen remodel who is qualified to do all of the basic trades. He is a perfectionist. He knows his limits and will tell me that I need to hire someone to do something he cannot handle. He has moved walls, put in a skylight, added electrical circuits, wired new cooktop and downdraft fan that he installed, removed soffitts, added a soffitt elsewhere, moved a load-bearing opening, installed bath fan where none had been, including adding the roof vent for it, installed front door systems and patio door, designed and installed front ramp, installed flooring, kitchen cabinets, kitchen appliances, interior doors, designed and created a six-step stairway, and created a dog-washing station based on my design. Since I met Jim in 2003, he has done almost all of the work I have needed done in the two houses I have owned. He is licensed and insured. I realize that I was lucky to find someone who is qualified to do so many different kinds of work. Not many are like this. But they do exist. Jim works mostly on his own, though he hires assistants when he needs them. On occasion, he hires his kids when they are not in school. Once, when he was doing my first backsplash, and I was using a glass tile as the secondary tile in a pinwheel pattern, I assisted by back-buttering the glass tiles and handing them to him to be placed. Jim sweeps up his work area at the end of each day. His van has built-in storage for all of his tools and he can easily find anything that he needs. "Meticulous" may be his middle name! I knew I had the right guy to work with me when I was interviewing him and he listened to my ideas for my first kitchen and pulled out his tape rule to measure and said, "Yeah, I think that will work here." He added his own ideas, told me "no" when I needed to hear it, and simply talked to me like a person instead of giving me that condescending treatment that so many men give to women when talking about technical or mechanical things. I knew I could work with him from the first interview. I was referred to him by asking for recommendations at the contractor's desk at the local lumber supplier. I was looking at kitchen cabinets there, so went to the desk and asked for some recommendations of contractors who seemed to know what they were doing. Jim has been working on a commercial building for the past three years. He says that he hated the boring work, but that he could not turn down the good pay. I have been waiting for him to be free to do my bathroom gut and remodel. I won't have anybody else if I can have Jim by waiting!