Poor Site Planning

In architectural practice, boundaries are critical. There are physical boundaries, professional boundaries and, what might best be called aspirational boundaries. In this episode, boundaries are badly defined, ignored, stretched and transgressed. Abysmal record keeping only makes matters worse.
Case Studies Podcast Documentation / Contracts Podcast site plan

Why architects should use OAA contracts

There’s just ONE contract to rule them all, and it’s from the OAA. Here’s a litigator’s perspective on how OAA 600 and OAA 800 protect architects.
Thought Leadership Documentation / Contracts Lawsuits

Lenders’ Undertakings (aka “Bank” or “Funder” Letter)

Since 2020, Pro-Demnity continues to receive increased calls from architects who are faced with an unfamiliar but seemingly harmless request from their client: to sign a form of undertaking addressed […]
Thought Leadership Documentation / Contracts

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 or Sub-contractor Relationship Management Delays Documentation / Contracts Podcast

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 or Sub-contractor Relationship Management Delays Documentation / Contracts Podcast

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 or Sub-contractor Relationship Management Delays Documentation / Contracts Podcast

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 or Sub-contractor Relationship 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 or Sub-contractor Relationship 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 or Sub-contractor Relationship 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 or Sub-contractor Relationship Management Delays Documentation / Contracts