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…
Read MoreResource Type: Risk report
Discovering Your Electronic Data
As the law pertaining to electronic data evolves, architecture firms must understand the issues around it. Firms must be able to identify the electronic data involved in their daily operations and how to properly store and discard it. Importantly, as electronic data grows exponentially, firms must also understand rules of discovery requirements and what one…
Read MoreGetting Paid Without Getting Sued
Without payment for services, design firms will suffer, starve, and even die. Importantly, payment issues are also often the single greatest warning sign of a project in trouble. The Collections-Claim Connection: Getting Paid Without Getting Sued, an AIA Trust risk report, discusses steps the architect can take to help ensure payment for a successful project.…
Read MoreIf You Build It, They Will Sue
Architects are increasingly exposed to potential future claims and lawsuits brought by homeowners and the homeowners’ associations years after a condominium project has been completed. This can occur even when the project developer has overruled the architect’s design decisions or has a limited role in the construction phase of the project. The AIA Trust risk…
Read MoreNavigating Risk in Digital Practice
The report, BIM Me Up, Scotty: Navigating Risk in Digital Practice, is your chance to get the inside on preemptive risk management for your digital travels. It is an opportunity to gain insight for managing your practice so that you can put up your deflector shields to guard against incursions from the litigious Borgs that…
Read MoreContractor Termination Lawsuits: The Architect’s Risks and How to Manage Them
When the terminator shows up, you must be ready. Termination of the contractor on a project almost always guarantees a lawsuit, and the architect is often among the casualties. The report, Contractor Termination Lawsuits: The Architect’s Risks and How to Manage Them, addresses why the architect is often sued when a project goes wrong, and…
Read MoreThe ABC’s of E-data: A Discussion Related to the Issues Raised by Electronic Information
As the law pertaining to electronic data evolves, architecture firms must understand the issues around it. Firms must be able to identify the electronic data involved in their daily operations and how to properly store and discard it. Importantly, as electronic data grows exponentially, firms must also understand rules of discovery requirements and what one…
Read MoreA Sustainable Standard Of Care
The “standard of care” is the prevailing benchmark of professional practice in architecture and design and the threshold of protection under professional liability insurance. The design professional’s standard of care is generally based on the performance of others characterized as the “reasonable”, “ordinary”, or “average” design professional, and not on internal or personal capabilities. However,…
Read MoreUndertaking A “Fiduciary Duty”: Crucial Legal & Professional Considerations For Architects
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…
Read MoreLeMessurier Stands Tall—A Case Study in Professional Ethics
The practice of architecture can be extremely rewarding but like any profession, it 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 a related subject that is often overlooked is ethics. In most instances,…
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