Who should obtain location permission for a client's commercial interior shoot?

Question

A building firm has hired me to photograph interiors at several hotels and leisure centres they worked on. The shoot will happen in one day during opening hours, and a representative from the firm will accompany me and has arranged access.

For a commercial assignment like this, should the client normally be responsible for obtaining any required permission from each venue, or should I do that myself? Would it be sensible to include a clause in my contract stating that the client is responsible for securing any necessary access and permissions?

user2719 · Accepted Answer

If permission is required, in an arrangement like this it is standard practice for the client to obtain permissions (and pay any required licensing fees). It is possible for them to rely on you, but that means that elements of their contract with you can be frustrated, which can lead to messy renegotiation/mitigation/arbitration or worse, and the client will generally want to keep things as simple and predictable as possible. That means that they will arrange permissions ahead of time, and only contract with you to shoot what can be shot -- otherwise, they're likely to wind up paying your day rate for work you're not actually able to do.

So it's not that permission necessarily needs to be obtained (there are a lot of "it depends" around that) or that the client is somehow legally responsible -- it's just a matter of making the services contract neat and easily enforceable, and that works out best if permissions are arranged before the shooting contract is finalized.

Who should obtain location permission for a client's commercial interior shoot?

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