The Artlaw archive of legal articles contains useful information for artists who have been offered or are interested in obtaining commissions, including:

• Commissioning an Artist, including an overview and history of commissioning activity
• Commissions and the responsibilities they bring, parts one and two, including responsibility for public safety on commissions
• Art and Architecture, a case study on a public art commission involving large-scale architectural construction
• Public Art and the Law, covering collaborations between architects and artists and the responsibilities they each take on
• Private Commissions and the Law, parts one and two, on the general environment that commissions occur in
• Dragon’s Dance, on what can go wrong in a public art commission
• Public Art Commissions, parts one and two, on good practice and an excellent overview on the commissioning process
• Who Owns Public Art Commissions?, on the difficulties of ownership of public art

An invaluable overview of public art commissions and case studies can be found on the excellent Public Art Online website.