Relying on Consultants

Architects sometimes take on projects that require the skill and experience that only a specialist consultant can provide. And, it’s easy to fall into the trap of taking responsibility in areas where your knowledge, and your ability to control events, are limited.
Case Studies Podcast Client Management

Exploring New Products

Episode 4 of Architects’ Claims Stories examines how architectural creativity often involves exploring new products, or in some cases, finding new uses for existing products. But be aware that the associated risks of experimenting with new products can be burdensome, and as the architects in these two stories discovered, the penalties can be severe.
Case Studies Podcast Client Management Design Substitutions / Material Failure

Inattention to Detail

Episode 3 of Architects’ Claims Stories highlights two different situations where the clients’ desire for a grand architectural gesture results in a debacle for the architects involved. Physical and emotional injuries arise from Inattention to detail.
Case Studies Podcast Client Management Delays Documentation / Contracts

Failure to Communicate

Episode 2 of Architects’ Claims Stories shares how a simple exchange of information, promptly delivered, duly recorded and correctly remembered, might have saved everyone a lot of grief.
Case Studies Podcast Client Management Delays Documentation / Contracts

No Written Record

This pilot episode of Architects’ Claims Stories deals with the consequences of an architect failing to keep written records.
Case Studies Podcast Client Management Delays Documentation / Contracts

Who’s In Charge?

Three architects, a construction manager and one engineer, all reviewing one mason’s work, cause confusion on a job site. An expert is hired but his advice is ignored.
Case Studies Client Management Documentation / Contracts Engineering / Subcontracting Issues

Field Level

An architect’s duty to the Owner as “Inspector of work” is tested; limits of expertise are exceeded, and liability for incorrect work is incurred.
Case Studies Client Management Documentation / Contracts

A Home is Not a House

An architect fails to record client instructions, confusing residential ambiance with institutional requirements, and shoddy workmanship goes unobserved by the engineer.
Case Studies Client Management Documentation / Contracts

False Start

Work on a small office building, starts before a permit has been issued. A gross error is discovered in the drawings, so the building is redesigned, but the desired design is not possible. The modified design is built, but it contains further flaws, so the owner sues the architect.
Case Studies Client Management Delays Documentation / Contracts