Talk to me about A&E

In Part II of this podcast series on What’s Your Liability IQ? Dan Buelow continues his discussion with two former DPIC claim managers, Laura Gualiardo, Managing Director of Design Professional Liability Claims for Travelers, and Mark Blankenship, Director of Risk Management for WTW A&E.  Dan, Laura and Mark review a number of questions from the DPIC Liability IQ and discuss current trends on a wide range of issues challenging design professionals including risks specific to stamping drawings, defining and managing scope and client expectations, documentation, contract formation, limiting liability, etc.  A fun listen for all levels of staff.   

For this podcast, Dan Buelow has a lively discussion on the DPIC liability IQ with some former DPIC claim managers, Laura Gualiardo, Managing Director of Design Professional Liability Claims for Travelers and Mark Blankenship, Director of Risk Management for WTW A&E. The DPIC liability IQ test was based on DPIC’s Lessons in professional liability written over 25 years ago. Dan’s discussion with Laura and Mark offers some keen insights into a wide range of critical risk management issues still facing architects and engineers today.

In this lively podcast discussion, Dan Buelow addresses four specific emerging contract issues design professionals face: withholding of fees, retaining ownership of documents, informed consent and getting named as an additional insured on the general contractor’s general liability policy. Dan is joined by Lou Gale, General Counsel for the Chicago based architecture firm, SCB and Mark Blankenship, Director of Risk Management for WTW Architects and Engineers. 

Dan Buelow continues his discussion on professional liability (PL) claims with Anthony Carolei, Director of Risk Management for Professional Liability for Hanover's A&E program. PL claims are taking longer to settle and costing more to resolve. Understanding the process, including working with defense counsel, alternative dispute resolution and important coverage features and obligations in a design firm’s professional liability policy is critical.

Dan Buelow talks to Anthony Carolei about what a design firm can expect and should be prepared for when faced with a professional liability (PL) claim against their firm. Anthony, Director of Risk Management for Professional Liability for Hanover's A&E program, has considerable experience in handling complex PL claims and offers some excellent insight and advice on this process.

Dan Buelow continues his discussion with Ryan Brennan, Specific Project Professional Indemnity Lead for HDI Global Insurance Company in part II of this two-part series of insuring single projects.  In this segment Dan and Ryan review the underwriting process that goes into assessing and pricing a PSPL on large complex projects and discuss the history of this coverage, the constriction of the current PSPL marketplace as well as the future outlook for this coverage.

Dan Buelow gets into the weeds with a two-part series on insuring single projects with Ryan Brennan, Specific Project Professional Indemnity Lead for HDI Global Specialty SE. In part I, the discussion includes an overview of specific job excess (SJX) versus project specific insurance (PSPL). Dan and Ryan review the features and benefits of a PSPL from both the design professional’s and owner’s perspective and why this coverage is an important consideration for certain large project types.

Dan Buelow talks to Clark Davis, Partner and Principal Consultant with Cameron MacAllister, respected advisors to architecture and engineering firms. Clark and his group were recently commissioned by WTW A&E to conduct an industry wide survey of design firms across the United States about the impacts of remote/hybrid work on design and technical quality in design practice. Dan and Clark review the results of this nationwide survey from the input of over 200 design firms. 

Dan Buelow continues his discussion with Dale Muhall, Director of Construction Phase Services for LEO A DALY. Part I of this two-part podcast series on shop drawings reviewed Dale’s AIA Best Practices article “Why We No Longer ‘Stamp’ Shop Drawings,” and the misconceptions, risks and errors surrounding basic construction administration procedures. In part II, Dan reviews a series of questions raised by design professionals on this same topic during a recent WTW A&E webinar with Dale.

Seemingly mundane documents such as shop drawings and requests for information have been around for as long as designers have been designing and builders have been building. But costly misconceptions, risks and errors surrounding these basic construction administration procedures still abound. Dan Buelow talks to Dale Munhall, AIA, National Director of Construction Phase Services at LEO A DALY to discuss his Best Practices article “Why We No Longer ‘Stamp’ Shop Drawings."

WTW A&E has seen a recent rise in claims from design professional firms related to fraudulent fund transfers and rogue employees. Dan Buelow talks to two experts concerning this disturbing trend to get some advice on what firms need to do to mitigate this significant and pervasive risk. What is the standard of care of a design firm and what can firms do to mitigate this risk? Tara Albin, Midwest Region Cyber Leader and Liz Caldwell, Cyber Claims Leader from the WTW Cyber Group help us answer this question and share some claims stories as well as very important lessons learned involving fraudulent fund transfer and rogue employees.

Dan Buelow talks to Colleen Palmer, Risk Manager for Beazley DP, on the topic of negotiating limitation of liability (LOL) clauses in design professional agreements. Some firms have had considerable success in getting LOL clauses in their agreements. Dan and Colleen discuss the benefits of this clause and the arguments and rationale as to why LOL clauses are both important and reasonable to have in every professional agreement. We review some sample wording and tips on negotiating this important clause – and compare and contrast the benefits of an LOL compared to that of a design contingency and waiver of consequential damage provisions.

Dan talks to Sue Yoakum, from Yoakum Law LLC, about the importance of establishing design contingencies. A design contingency helps establish expectations that architects and engineers’ drawings and specifications will not be perfect. Whenever there is a claim against a design professional on a project, there is often the question if there has been a breach of the design professional’s standard of care. When do you cross from non-negligent errors and omissions (not a breach of standard of care) to errors and omission that arise to a breach of the standard of care? Sue discusses this and how a design contingency can mitigate claims and the benefits to the project owner of having their project come in on budget and schedule – by setting aside funds for issues that can and should be expected on a custom design project. Sue also shares some suggested contract wording and reviews some important considerations when it comes to negotiating a reasonable percentage of the Cost of the Work to be used as a design contingency.

Dan talks to Charlie Woodman, Senior Director of Risk Finance & Analytics for WTW Construction, about Captives as an alternative risk transfer solution for design professionals.

Dan talks to David Ericksen from the law firm Collins + Collins on the risks and the business challenges design firms face with evolving technology. This podcast reviews the risks associated evolving digital technology, new products and sustainability. There is no profession that has been impacted more than the design profession when it comes to technology and the incorporation of new technology into a consultant’s services and the design process. How does this impact the design firm’s standard of care – and what should the design professional consider when it comes to establishing and managing client expectations? Dave addresses all this and offers important advice on how firms can mitigate unreasonable performance based exposures associated with evolving technology, sustainability and even climate change - and the importance of securing informed consent from their clients.

In part II of our podcast on Communication and Documentation, Dan continues his discussion with Frank Musica, Risk Management Consultant for Victor. Dan picks up where he left off on reviewing how important words are when it comes to all the forms of documentation and phases of a project the risks associated with evolving technology. This discussion focuses on the significant risks associated with emails and important advice on document retention. This podcast will offer practical measures the design firm can take to implement effective documentations and communication practices to reduce your risk to costly claims and client disputes.

Dan talks to Frank Musica, Risk Management Consultant for Victor, in a two part series on Communication and Documentation. In part one of this series the focus is on the standard of care and the importance of documentation and effective communications in order to manage professional liability risk. Dan and Frank talk about why most claims against A&E firms are rooted in poor communications and documentation practices. This discussion includes a review of the fundamental tension between risk management and marketing, advice on the documentation and communication process in the contract formation and CA phases - and managing client expectations.

Every firm must ultimately decide if a prospective project is a “go” or a “no-go” and if they should commit valuable time and resources. Dan talks to Andy Mendelson, FAIA, Chief Risk Management Officer for Berkley DP, about the critical “Go No-Go” considerations every design firm should include when assessing a new project opportunity including project team capabilities, financial impact, contracts and client selection.

In part two of our discussion on Design-Build (DB), Dan and David Hatem, a Partner at Donovan Hatem LLP, discuss David’s recent white paper release on addressing the inherent and unsustainable risks associated with DB infrastructure projects. Dan and David focus on the critical issues identified in the paper and recommendations made, including improving procurement, contractual practices and underwriting approaches in assessing the risk.