Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency: Design Professional Roles and Risks
The need for design professionals to take climate change, sustainability, and resiliency (“CCSR”) into consideration in project design is growing. Of equal importance is the aspirational goal of educating owners to adopt CCSR objectives in project programs. These objectives need to be achieved in a process that adequately accounts for the management of design professional risks.
Roles in the Design Development Process
Design professionals, through their professional skill, acumen, and experience, provide services (including design) to their clients (typically private and public owners, and sometimes contractors and others) in making recommendations as to how to design a project that will achieve the programmatic objectives of their clients. Those recommendations typically emerge from studies that the design professional provides to its client. The scope and quality of those options and recommendations derive from the scope of services that the client engages the design professional to perform.
Read MoreThe Design & Construction Management Professional Reporter: June 2017
Inside this issue:
Massachusetts Federal District Court Applies Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) Heightened Standard of Pleading to Negligent Misrepresentation Claim
Good Neighbor Design Practices: How Prudent Design Decision-Making Can Increase Project Success and Limit Professional Liability Exposure
By David J. Hatem, PC and Molly E. Manson, Esq.
Construction Control Affidavits and the Importance of Defining Design Professional Scope of Work
Recent Case Highlights Important Business Lesson
Massachusetts Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of Complaint Against Design Professionals Based Upon the Three-Year Statute of Limitations
Divergent Outcomes in Massachusetts Cases Demonstrate the Effect of a Comprehensive Bar Against Damages in a Subcontract
Read MoreThe Design & Construction Management Professional Reporter: March 2017
Inside this issue:
Acceptance of Initial Design Documents in Divisible Design Contract Triggers Accrual of a Breach of Contract Action Against Design Professional
Limitation of Liability Provision May Not Preclude Recovery Under Chapter 93A if Claim is Based Upon Fraudulent Conduct
New Hampshire Supreme Court Rules Municipalities Have Limited Time to Bring Lawsuits Against Design Professionals for Municipal Contract Breaches
Considering the Costs of Contract Arbitration Clauses
Read MoreThe Design & Construction Management Professional Reporter: December 2016
Inside this issue:
Diverse and Bifurcated Design Roles: Distinguishing Design Responsibility and Design Risk Allocation
Read MorePublic-Private Partnerships and Design-Build: Opportunities and Risks for Consulting Engineers
As P3 and DB approaches on bridges, roads, transit, water supply and treatment, tunnels, rail, and other public infrastructure projects continue to increase, consulting engineers need access to vital knowledge and reliable expertise to make conscientious and prudent decisions about P3 and DB project opportunities and risks.
The second edition of Public-Private Partnerships and Design-Build: Opportunities and Risks for Consulting Engineers presents new industry information and experience on P3 and DB approaches, and offers timely recommendations about the rewards, challenges, and risk exposures for consulting engineers in today’s still evolving P3 and DB project work environment.
All proceeds from the sale of this book are exclusively retained by ACEC. To learn more about this edition or purchase a copy, visit www.acec.org.
Read MoreA Tale of Two Cities: Retrospective and Prospective Views of the Big Dig and Megaproject Delivery
By David J. Hatem, PC and Gregory S. Paonessa, Esq.
From the 1950s until substantial completion of the Central Artery Tunnel (CA/T) Project in 2006, otherwise known as the Big Dig, Boston was a city divided. Dubbed the “Green Monster” by locals, the elevated Central Artery ran from the north of the City southbound over the Charles River and by the Boston Garden. From that point, it separated the North End from the West End, and Government Center, Faneuil Hall and the Financial District from the Waterfront. The Artery provided a never ending source of smog and soot which covered surrounding buildings and engulfed the City in noise from vehicular traffic. It plagued the City as an under-designed, ill-conceived means of traversing from the North to the South Shore and the I-95 corridor.
Read the entire article on page 5 in ACEC Insights.
Read MoreThe Accountant/Attorney Liability Reporter: November 2016
Inside this issue:
Punitive Damages Claims Against an Accounting Professional May Be Allowed to Proceed Based on Gross Negligence
California Ruling Indicates MFAA Fee Arbitrations Now Subject to One-Year Statute of Limitations Defense
In Tax Scheme Case, Fraud Claim Against Attorney Allowed to Proceed
New York Dismisses Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claim Against Accountants Based Upon Statute of Limitations
Read MoreThe Design and Construction Management Professional Reporter: September 2016
Inside this issue:
Supreme Court Rules That Grounds for Judicial Review of an Arbitration Award Cannot be Altered by a Contract
Colorado Supreme Court Finds Tort Claims Not Barred by the Economic Loss Rule if Supported by an Independent Duty
New York Appellate Court Enforces the Economic Loss Doctrine and Bars Contribution Claim
Resentful Homeowner Lacks Reliance and Proper Timing
Defense Verdict Highlights Importance of Defining Beneficiaries in Contracts
Read MoreThe Design and Construction Management Professional Reporter: April 2016
Inside this issue:
Mississippi Appeals Court Uses Seven Factors to Determine Whether Supervisory Powers Extend Beyond Contract Provisions Contained in A/E Contract
General Contractor’s Case Against Design Professional is not Barred by the Theory of Claim Preclusion
Maryland Court of Special Appeals Upholds Dismissal in Duty of Care Case Based on Purely Economic Losses
By Lucas M. Blackadar, Esq.
Contractor’s Delay Claim Against the Architect Survives Motion to Dismiss in Virginia
Expecting the Unexpected: Using Standard Construction Contingency to Establish Minimum Design Standard of Care
Read MoreThe Design and Construction Management Professional Reporter: January 2016
Inside this issue:
Owners, Take Heart – Amendment to Texas Condominium Law Gives Unit Owners a Voice in Construction Litigation
By Lucas M. Blackadar, Esq.
Risk Associated With Differing Site Conditions Can Be Expressly Assumed
By Amanda E. Mathieu, Esq.
Nullum Tempus Occurrit Regi? No, But the King Still Has a Long Time
By Lucas M. Blackadar, Esq. and Jonathan A. Barnes, Esq.
The Importance of Carefully Reviewing Contract Terms Including Those Incorporated by Reference
A Resident Engineer Providing Inspection Services Owes No Duty to a Subcontractor
By James M. Boyce, Esq.
Read MoreRelational Risk Allocation in D-B and P3s
Understand the various risks assumed by Design-Builder, Owner and Engineer Subconsultant in Design-Build and Public-Private Partnerships.
Read MoreAn Engineer’s Professional Liability Case in New Hampshire
In a recent case against an Engineer performing residential home inspections in the State of New Hampshire, the court dismissed the case and awarded attorney’s fees against the Plaintiff Homeowner.
Requirements for Establishing a Design Professional’s Liability
By Lauren M. Ippolito
In a recent decision by the New York Supreme Court in June 2014, the Court affirmed that expert testimony is a necessity in a case where is it alleged that a design professional failed to adequately perform its services or improperly performed its work pursuant to a contract.
Read MoreProject Management Firm Has No Implied Duty to Ensure the Safety of Subcontractor’s Employees
By Gregory Paonessa
The Massachusetts Superior Court (“Court”) recently held in Rodrigues v. Tribeca Builders Corp. that a project management firm whose duties are primarily logistical, managerial and administrative does not owe a duty to ensure the safety of project workers.
Read MoreIn Case You Missed It: Sovereign Immunity Still (Mostly) For Sovereigns
By Lucas Blackadar, Esq.
Just this past spring, the Texas Supreme Court decided Brown & Gay Engineering, Inc. v. Olivares, 461 S.W.3d 117 (Tex. 2015), a case arising from the death of two motorists – one intoxicated and one sober – on the West Park Tollway in Fort Bend County, Texas. The key question raised in the case was whether Brown & Gay Engineering (B&G), the engineering firm retained by the Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority to design the signage and layout for the Tollway, could be protected under sovereign immunity. B&G was an independent contractor, so some on the Court felt that resolving that question was, more or less, a complete and utter waste of time. However, the Court decided to engage, swatted down most, if not all, of B&G’s arguments, and actually provided some helpful guidance in the process.
Read MoreD-B and P3s: Design Professionals Do Have Choices!
With much of the discussion of D-B and P3s frequently focused on the risks and liabilities associated with these methods, the discourse can often feel negative, leaving at least some of you thinking and asking:
“If D-B and P3s represent the dominant present and future trends for infrastructure projects and potentially other, vertical projects – are they, in reality, positive developments for design professionals and do I or my firm want to be a part of those trends, and do we actually have a choice? If we do choose to be a part of those trends, how should we go about it?”
Read MoreThe Design and Construction Management Professional Reporter: September 2015
Inside this issue:
New Jersey’s Joint Tortfeasor Law Warrants Strict Appliation in the Courts
By Lauren M. Ippolito, Esq.
Sovereign Immunity Still (Mostly) for Sovereigns
By Lucas M. Blackadar, Esq.
New Hampshire Supreme Court Enforces the Statute of Repose
Project Management Firm Has No Implied Duty to Ensure the Safety of Subcontractor’s Employees
By Gregory S. Paonessa, Esq.
Expert Testimony and Proof of an Independent Legal Duty Are Required To Establish a Design Professional’s Liability
By Lauren M. Ippolito, Esq.
Read MoreUncertainty in the Design and Construction Process
In an attempt to understand the varying perspectives of owners, designers and contractors, McGraw Hill Construction released a report in September 2014 identifying aspects of uncertainty in the design and construction process.
The research was undertaken by McGraw Hill Construction Research & Analytics Group and surveyed over 2,500 owners, architects and contractors in an attempt to understand and initiate a conversation about uncertainty. While the study establishes the groundwork for understanding, the next step might be to determine how to accurately “handicap” a project as a contingency in consideration of project complexity, delivery method, project owner and design and construction team familiarity with the project type, project location, and other issues that impact a successful project.
Read MoreDefining the Zone of Foreseeable Risk
By Lindsey D. Smith, Esq.
While architects and engineers understand that, by signing a contract to perform design services, they owe a duty to those with whom they contract, they may not be aware that the law extends that duty to others with whom they did not contract. Moreover, they may not be aware that courts in different states apply different legal principles to determine the scope of the duty owed.
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