Risk Management Articles
Limitation of Liability Victory for Design Professionals
On Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Governor Rick Scott signed into law SB 286, relating to Design Professionals and known as the Fairness in Liability legislation. Beginning July 1, 2013, design firms will now be allowed to negotiate contracts that protect their...
Words to Watch when Reviewing Contract Language
Tips and tricks for editing risk out of standard business agreements By Glen R. Mangold and Charles W. Kopplin When a design professional reviews a contract, the sight of certain words or phrases can make them uncomfortable. This uneasy sensation is caused by an...
Negotiating Indemnity Provisions
Professional Liability insurance companies have long highlighted the risks to design professionals regarding language in the indemnity provision requiring the design professional to defend the client and have stressed the importance of ensuring the provision is negligence-based. The indemnity obligation should be limited “to the extent damages are caused by the design professional’s negligence.”
Making the Grade: Testing Design Professional Indemnity Obligations
by David A. Ericksen, Severson & Werson, San Francisco, CA In•dem•ni•fy Verb. • Compensate (someone) for harm or loss. • Secure (someone) against legal responsibility for their actions. Imagine a case where an engineering firm was found to have had an expensive...
Ensuring a Good Prime/Subconsultant Relationship
In today’s more complex project world, it is common to have teams of companies working together on a design project. Sometimes these teams take the form of a joint venture with shared risk and responsibility among two or more design firms. The other – and perhaps more common – form is to have a prime consultant and one or more subconsultants employed by them on the project.
An Unfair Duty to Defend
By Samuel Greengard. This article originally appeared in Engineering, Inc., July/August 2013 No engineering project is without risk. Somewhere between the goal of designing the best bridge, building or water treatment facility and running a profitable business lurks...
Cancellation Notice Provision
A/E firms are constantly being asked to provide 30 days notice of cancellation in their contracts with their clients. Typical contract language is as follows: “All policies for insurance must be endorsed to contain a provision giving the Owner at least thirty (30)...
Building Information Modeling is the Wave of the Future
“To boldly go where no man has gone before.” Such was the mission of the Starship Enterprise and its crew in the hit sci-fi TV series Star Trek. And such is the mission of the design technique known as Building Information Modeling (BIM). Building Information Modeling...
How to Get a Design Professional to Work For Free!
Now that we have grabbed your undivided attention, the purpose of this article is to alert Design Professionals to an alarming trend. This trend involves the inclusion of contract provisions in agreements prepared by Owners/Developers and their attorneys that force a Design Professional to work for free in the event that the Owner/ Developer unilaterally determines that there is a “dispute.”
Document Retention and Disposition
Document control is a cornerstone of a design firm’s overall quality control program. This essential preventive measure aims to ensure that: Only approved, current documents, specifications and standards are used throughout the organization. Proper documentation of...