While architects always try to do their best for their clients, mistakes happen. And in a litigious society, lawsuits have become an inevitability. Professional liability coverage not only pays judgment costs, it prepares you for a lawsuit by paying claims defense costs. Even fraudulent claims cost your firm money. The Victor & CNA program offers…
Read MoreTopic: Professional liability
Joint Ventures Should Anticipate Professional Liability Claims
A joint venture is essentially a partnership, but only for a specific, and usually limited, purpose. Both partnership agreements and joint venture agreements usually allocate responsibility and compensation between or among the parties. Comprehensive joint venture agreements also address issues such as determining fault for performance that is deficient and establishing obligations for rectifying harm…
Read MoreAn Accident-Free Workplace
National Safety Month focuses on preventative measures that employees can take to maintain an accident-free workplace. In keeping with that mission, here are some best practices that you can incorporate into your daily routine to ensure the safety of you and your colleagues.
Read MoreStatutes of Repose Can Be Vital in Limiting Exposure
It seems that during each cycle of the state legislative sessions, efforts are made either to expand or reduce the business and professional liability exposures faced by construction-related professional service firms. In some instances, under the overall rubric of “tort reform,” efforts are made to redefine exposure and channel liability. Some efforts are highly beneficial…
Read MoreCan a Design Professional Be in Absolute Compliance with the Law?
There are two kinds of clients who insist in a contract that a design professional absolutely comply with laws, regulations, codes, ordinances, standards and a plethora of other business and design constraints. First there is the client who, perhaps with strained incredulity, asks “Do you mean to tell me that you do not intend to…
Read MoreWho Owns the Instruments of Service?
It is not uncommon for clients to request ownership of your plans and specifications. Corporate clients often assume they will somehow be of future value. Educational clients think they can create a database of project information that will help them reduce future costs. Agencies of government reason that the public, having paid for your services,…
Read MoreProject Documentation: To Write or Not To Write
In suits alleging negligence in the performance of professional services, well-drafted documents and well-kept, comprehensive records are the strongest defensive weapons available to professionals. The following practices and procedures can be vital to a firm’s continued profitability in the face of costly litigation. Planning phase Put all agreements for the performance of services in writing,…
Read MoreBusiness Coverage Professional Liability
What You Need to Know—About the Changing Standard of Care
The AIA Trust white paper about the evolving standard of care is a topic of vital interest to AIA Members. 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…
Read MoreProject-Based IPD Insurance Coverage
The shared-risk/shared-profit collaborative nature of Integrated Project Delivery results in many aspects of the relationship being defined contractually. But it is unclear how courts will construe the provisions of multi-party agreements with extensive waivers of rights, unusual limitations on risk, and blurring of responsibilities. The delivery system, with its emphasis on contractual liability rather than…
Read MoreLender Assignment and Certification Requirements
In today’s economic climate, more and more, architects are being asked to address client issues relative to financing, assignment and certification. Every architect should be knowledgeable on these issues and approaches. When a client insists on assigning contractual rights to a lender that requires consent and certification of project information, most of the resulting issues…
Read MoreLender Assignment and Certification Requirements
