Newsletters
While you may have spent years developing a reliable specification based on research and product performance to be sure your work is exemplary, you may be asked to review proposed product substitutions with which you have limited knowledge or experience. Since you may be perceived as obstructionist if you object or viewed as approving the…
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Do good relationships drive success? Architects have many tools available as practitioners, but often cannot hear each other. How can we learn to truly and honestly exchange ideas and information with others? Isn’t good communication the key to good architecture? Find out some keys to beneficial communication and how to balance relationships to achieve professional…
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The AIA Trust workshop, How to Start & Run Your Own Firm offers practical, professional, ethical, legal and insurance tips for a new firm to start off right. In addition, be sure to check out the full-page website guide about how to Start a Firm — where you’ll find recommended benefit programs for your new…
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It can happen to anyone. An event on a system or network detected by a security device or application: malicious activity that is attempting to collect, disrupt, deny, degrade or destroy information system resources or the information itself. As an architect, if you don’t think you need cyber protection or don’t believe someone would want…
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The AIA Trust just published two guides that address some of the unique design issues associated with each of these growing areas of design and construction: marijuana facilities and craft breweries. The AIA Trust Guide to Marijuana Facilities Design examines some of the necessary considerations for the safe and efficient delivery of product to the…
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Floods can happen anywhere—more than 20% of flood claims come from properties outside the high-risk flood zone according to FEMA. Architects are impacted by floods through exposures at their offices, their homes, and their client’s properties. So it’s important to understand what flood insurance covers—and what it does not cover—and what you need for your…
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With everyone busier than ever, most of us are seeking a balance between our work and our personal lives. Technology now enables extensive communications and thereby opportunities that didn’t exist years ago. Nearly every practicing architect engages in some form of “virtual practice” today because responsibilities require it. So, is an entirely virtual practice now…
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Confused over the differences between Long Term Disability Insurance (LTD) and Business Overhead Expense Insurance (BOE)? While both plans provide a monthly benefit if you are disabled and unable to work, the purposes are very different: LTD provides a monthly benefit to cover your personal expenses while you are disabled, whereas BOE provides a monthly…
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If you’ve worked hard, been successful, and gained the trust of your superiors, you may at some point in your career receive an invitation to become a principal in your firm. While it may seem like evidence of your overall success, there are upsides and downsides to an ownership role and you should thoroughly understand…
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The AIA Trust Guide to Virtual Practice, is a treasure-trove of invaluable pointers and considerations for this burgeoning approach to architectural practice. The guide offers an overview of requirements and questions to consider when starting or working in a virtual practice. For example, what actually is a virtual practice and how does it differ from…
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Until you are left reeling from the untimely death of a loved one, you may not fully understand or appreciate the importance of life insurance and the critical role it can play during that difficult time. Your children, spouse or significant other, parents or other family members, are the ones whose futures you want to…
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Today, a new reality in architectural practice is that most architects are no longer interacting across their workstations. Instead, they are ‘virtually’ sharing ideas and drawings across digital platforms. Nearly every practicing architect engages in some form of “virtual practice” because the pace and practicalities of life demand it–employees travel or relocate, must limit work…
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If you’re invited to become a principal in your firm, do you know what that requires? A recent study on internal ownership transition sheds light on how architecture firms are handling the ownership succession process when founding principals near the end of their tenure. If you’re tapped to become a principal in your firm, this…
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As a risk management resource for AIA Members, the AIA Trust develops risk reports on topics of critical and evolving risks for architects. If you don’t have time to read the risk reports, new synopses give you the important facts. Check them out now—so you stay out in front of critical risks. Some of these…
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For most architects, the idea that one could become disabled due to an illness or injury seems pretty remote. No matter how many times one may say, “It will never happen to me,” there’s no getting around the fact that it does happen—everyday—to people just like you. So what should you know about disability insurance?…
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Published by AIA’s Risk Management Committee (RMC), below are two articles to explain how the standard of care applies to your practice. Often the actions of the architect are measured against the applicable “standard of care.” Perfection is not the standard of care for the practice of architecture and while the common law standard of…
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The typical complaint against an architect starts with the plaintiff laying out his story of what happened, and then listing the laws that the conduct allegedly violated. Architects are familiar with many of them–malpractice, negligence, breach of contract, and the like. But sometimes the complaint alleges that the architect is a “fiduciary” and has breached…
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The practice of architecture can be extremely rewarding. But like any profession, the practice of architecture must include attention to a host of various business and legal issues. For many architects, dealing with the myriad of requirements and the complexities they impose can be challenging, and there is a related subject that is often overlooked–ethics.…
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The compelling risk report, Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Claims Defense Documentation, addresses documentation by the architect, centering on the presumption, “If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.” The paper is a guideline for managing your documentation with helpful suggestions for beneficial recordkeeping and documents retention and retrieval for an effective claims response in the…
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The risk report, Bulletproof Contract Administration: Managing Risk during Construction, addresses documentation procedures that can be advantageous in managing risk during the construction phase. Although considered cumbersome in this often complex phase of services, the suggestions put forth can serve as valuable defense documentation in the event a claims bullet is fired. Beginning with the…
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