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Industry news and insights.
Document Retention: Rules of Thumb for Design Professionals
In an age of cloud storage and terabyte-sized digital memory, it may seem easy to keep everything forever. But for architects and engineers, knowing how long to retain project documents is a legal question as much as a practical one — and getting it wrong in either direction carries real risk.
Architects & Engineers Coverage
PDI has programs for a broad range of architects and engineers and other design professionals across the United States. Here are a few of the...
Insuring Design-Build Risks
Insuring design-build accounts entails understanding factors that are somewhat unique in the realm of insurance. Here's an article from IRMI that...
Professional Liability Insurance for General Contractors
We get asked a lot of questions about design insurance for General Contractors and why they might need professional liability coverage. Below are...
Observation vs. Supervision: A Liability Line Every Design Professional Needs to Understand
When an architect or engineer visits a construction site, they are not a safety inspector, a superintendent, or responsible for the contractor’s means and methods. Most design professionals understand this instinctively. The problem is that courts, clients, and injured workers don’t always see it the same way. The distinction between construction observation and construction supervision is one of the most consequential liability issues in the design professions, and one of the most misunderstood.
Using Construction Contracts for Design Services
Does utilizing construction contracts for design services impact my common law Standard of Care? Using a construction contract for design services...
Contractual Limitations of Liability: The Evolution of a Risk Tool
Contractual limitations of liability are an important risk tool for design professionals today. These contractual provisions can operate as a way to...
Project Insurance & Owners Protective Insurance: What’s the difference?
The protection offered by Project Insurance and Owners Protective Insurance is very similar. But the route the two policies take to arrive at that...
Design Professionals and the Give and Take of “Standard Contracts”
The word standard implies many things. A bar to be cleared; a rubric to be followed. But for design professionals, the word becomes tricky when...