The standard of care for architects and engineers is evolving as climate change, disasters, and emerging risks reshape industry expectations.
In all professions, steady advances are made that ultimately lead to changes in the standard of care. In the field of medicine, for instance, new medical devices and advances in technology like artificial intelligence create innovative ways to check a patient’s health status, and codes are updated.
The standard of care with respect to each profession is established, maintained, and updated by expert testimony, generally given by members of the profession who practice in a similar location, sub-specialty, or market (based on a range of definitions).
Over the years, the medical community has seen the standard of care change most rapidly due to the continual flow of new research on appropriate treatment protocols, advances in surgical techniques, along with an array of new drug therapies, and emerging health and safety concerns among others.
Arguably, however, the group of professionals most recently impacted by unusual changes is the design community.
When natural disasters and other catastrophic events occur, experts often surface to opine that somehow the architects and engineers involved in the design should have anticipated the catastrophe. This includes black swan events such as terrorists flying planes into buildings, as well as other man-made disasters including container ships hitting bridges and the sudden, unforeseen collapse of a condominium.
Today, the expanding scope of potential catastrophic exposures also encompasses the widespread effects of global climate change, including flooding, freezing, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, and tornadoes – in many cases, occurring in areas not previously impacted. There also have been a series of changes in the past few years to the USGS seismic map of the U.S. which has identified entirely new swaths of the country with potential earthquake exposures.
Indeed, with respect to weather and climate, who would have expected Asheville, North Carolina, to sustain major hurricane damage as it did only a few months ago? Certainly, not the many people who moved there in 2022 when the area was ranked number one on a list of 10 cities considered “climate havens.”
To be clear, the standard of care for architects and engineers has been evolving incrementally for many years as knowledge advances about emerging exposures, the long-term viability of certain building products, and construction materials and design practices given a new set of challenges posed by weather, climate, and anticipated versus actual utilization. Codes have changed, albeit sometimes seemingly slowly, as knowledge increases with the gathering of new evidence on the potential health impacts of indoor air and water quality, fire protection, mold, and other contaminants affecting the public. Protecting the public and ensuring safety remains the first tenet of every design professional license.
Years ago, there was a time when lead paint and asbestos were routinely specified; however, few architects today recall that time.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic at an annual meeting attended by attorneys representing the design community, one lawyer gave a speech on how climate change might affect the standard of care. A general counsel from an engineering firm expressed concern that if claims were made against the firm one tactic by the plaintiff’s firm bringing a claim might be to find out if any members of the defendant firm attended the speech.
2024 concluded with unprecedented damage from hurricanes; subsequently, 2025 began with unprecedented damage from wildfires. Damage invariably results in litigation. Individual and class action claims can result, as well as claims from insurance companies looking to recover their payments. There was a time when an “Act of God” defense was a strong argument against this type of lawsuit – and even times when these actions would be dismissed by the courts. Those times appear to be long gone.
If someone from the design community is willing to testify that they would have done things differently and, as a result, there would have been less damage, the case will likely go to a decision maker to weigh the testimony.
One of the first inquiries our firm received in 2025 came from a renowned lawyer who has defended design professionals for decades. He was concerned that all the recent publications discussing climate change by both design professionals and insurance companies could be unwittingly changing the standard of care. The answer seems to be probably “yes.” How can you defend yourself when there are hundreds of articles on the topic?
It may be human nature to point the finger at humans when disaster occurs. We’ve seen it for years; arguments that the road design, not the drunk driver on that road caused an accident. Now it has become even more pervasive with the news media and politicians actively engaging in the blame game.
Trying to ignore recent news reports on weather and climate events, evolving conditions and their impacts or finding another profession altogether may be options, but they certainly aren’t good ones. On the other hand, staying aware of what is being published, what others are opining, what your insurance carriers are publishing on these emerging issues, and then warning your clients of the potential risks involved in any type of construction is a better option.
Furthermore, becoming more active in your professional communities is another prudent course of action. What are other architects and engineers in your field doing? Continued education is one of the best ways to become and remain aware of evolving risks and, thus, to avoid or effectively manage them. We, as a community, can also become more aware that by our words as well as our actions, we are in a position to affect the standard of care.
Lauren Martin is a risk manager and claims specialist at Ames & Gough. She can be reached at lmartin@amesgough.com.