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By Mark Zweig | AEC firms that want better marketing need to sound more human, move faster, and stop hiding behind safe, forgettable messaging.

By Lauren Martin | A simple “time is of the essence” clause can transform routine schedule delays into costly legal and insurance risks.

By Janki DePalma | When we measure collaboration instead of individual wins, teams shift from rivalry to shared success.

By Robert Jones | The DOT’s new rule ends automatic DBE presumptions, requiring individualized proof of disadvantage and immediate recertification for all firms.

By Jeremy Clarke | Independent directors give AEC boards the objectivity, capacity, and perspective insiders can’t provide.

By Marcía Alvarado | From the court to the C-suite, female athletes bring discipline, drive, and dynamic leadership to the AEC industry.

By Lauren Martin | The standard of care for architects and engineers is evolving as climate change, disasters, and emerging risks reshape industry expectations.

February 1 - IMEG Corp. (Rock Island, IL) acquired Warner Larson Landscape Architects (Boston, MA), a firm specializing in Architecture, expanding its capabilities in landscape architecture and site design and strengthening its presence in civic,...

By Daryl Simons Jr. & Jeremy Clarke | Rather than a liability, these candidates could offer an opportunity to uncover exceptional talent.

By Lauren Martin | Imprecise, incorrect contract language may leave AEC firms uninsured for professional liability exposures.

By Taylor Dolan & Nathan Greyard | How the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron deference will impact design firms.

This report details some of the biggest trends and movements regarding M&A activity in the AEC industry as of the end of Q2 2024.

By Brad Thurman | To attract and motivate the best team, you need to be able to articulate your vision and the steps you’re taking to get there.

By Elizabeth Preston | How do AEC industry businesses use artificial intelligence effectively and responsibly for writing?

By Lauren Martin | There has never been a downside to reporting circumstances to your professional liability insurance carrier, but there can be a huge downside for failing to report them.

This report details some of the biggest trends and movements regarding M&A activity in the AEC industry as of the end of Q3 2023.

By Lauren Martin | These clauses represent a real and potentially significant exposure for AEC firms for which there’s no insurance protection.

By Wesley Jones | Empowering diverse groups within your organization is paramount to understanding your employees, your clients, and the industries you serve.

By Lauren Martin | It’s important for design firms to understand the potential peril to all parties involved should there be a third-party beneficiary clause in any contract.

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | As natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and severity, so will the potential exposure to the design community.

By Will Swearingen | If there are people with dominating or otherwise off-set personalities on your leadership team, it could be time for a change.

By Andy Chavez | Some of the best practices that the most experienced buyers in our industry employ to get deals across the finish line.

By Lauren Rhodes Martin | More owners (or their lawyers) have tried to insert these clauses into design contracts, and this should be a red flag for AEC firms.

By Callum Roxborough | Lawyers and in-house counsel can be strategic partners for AEC firms when consulted at the right junctures.

Zweig Group is the leading AEC Industry advisory service provider. We blend industry and sector knowledge with experience across the M&A lifecycle to help you capture value for shareholders. Reach our Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory team here. -Domestic Transactions:...

By Liisa Andreassen | President of Galloway (Denver, CO), a firm with a streamlined process that addresses all its clients’ design needs – from architecture to civil engineering and survey.

By Will Anderson | Five ways that inflation could be eating away at your firm’s growth and what you can do about it.

Knowing who does what, who needs to weigh in, and who makes the final decision is critical to success.

By Liisa Andreassen | President and founder of PaleoWest, a heritage consulting firm that guides clients’ projects through regulatory challenges posed by prehistoric, historic, and paleontological resources.

By Mark Zweig | Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are still doing what you want to do every day. Maybe now is the time to get really serious about your transition.

By Leo MacLeod | Delegation is a sign of a mature leader. It allows you to focus on how you can contribute at the highest level given your experience and wisdom.

Contract disclaimers reflect the reality that estimating is an art, not a science – and that design professionals cannot guarantee or warrant the actual costs of construction.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Companies are adopting fluid work from home policies and people have begun migrating away from dense cities.

COO at Baird, Hampton and Brown, Inc. (Fort Worth, TX), a firm that is passionate about improving the landscape of its community with the utmost quality and integrity.

For many leaders, business development resides outside their core competencies and comfort zone, to their firm’s detriment.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Despite the challenging environment, there are tremendous opportunities to be had.

By Jamie Claire Kiser | Addressing questions about the impact of COVID-19 through the lens of the Great Recession.

If innovators find themselves on the wrong side of these rules, the law may deny them legal ownership of what should have been their intellectual property.

Good contracts can help, but timely and thorough reviews of shop drawings are, perhaps, the best defense.

Just by doing what comes naturally for cutting-edge AEC firms, they are likely eligible for a refundable tax credit.

There’s a push for architects and engineers to consider the safety of construction and maintenance workers when designing new structures.

Taylor Dayton, EIT, is a project engineer at Aspect Consulting’s office in Wenatchee, Washington.

Unless you put yourself out there as perfect, courts will typically hold you to the standard of reasonable care if you make a mistake.

Surveying technology has been around for thousands of years. What’s new today will be old tomorrow, but the basics will remain the same.

If you’re a firm owner or design professional, don’t leave contractors guessing. Using plain language, make your intent clear to avoid disputes, change orders, and claims.

“Always be recruiting! That has to be the mantra for anyone who’s an owner or manager in an AEC firm today because finding people is crucial to your growth.”

It might seem far fetched, but it’s true. AEC firms can learn a thing or two from the fast-food industry.

AEC firms have new options for addressing the ‘Duty to Defend’ obligation in indemnification provisions. As clients continue to look for ways to transfer greater amounts of project-related risk to design firms, it has become...

Under the Accepted-Work Doctrine, contractors and designers are relieved of liability to injured third parties after a completed project goes back to the owner. The Accepted-Work Doctrine – also known as the Acceptance Doctrine, the...

In the absence of extraordinary situations, the courts will rely on the contract’s terms, not the Impossibility of Performance Doctrine. My wife and I visited St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome a few years ago. A...

Be careful. While a design firm can retain its copyrights by contract, the firm can just as easily give those rights away – by written contract. Design professionals are, traditionally, reluctant to give up ownership...

The Spearin Doctrine: Public owners do not shed all design risk by contracting for design-build if there are specified criteria upon which the design-builder is to rely. On government projects you may sometimes hear a...

An acquired firm can double your size, elevate your design reputation, and give you a foothold in a new market – if the cultures fit. Editor’s note: Design Organization was acquired by Shive-Hattery in 2012....

By understanding the various risks associated with P3s and taking appropriate steps to manage them, A/E firms can put themselves in advantageous positions. As our nation turns to the urgent need to repair, replace, and...

In states that adhere to the ELD, design professionals have a strong defense against third-party claims for economic damages. Know the law in your project state. Law books are full of various “doctrines” that have...

Can project owners be the judge of disputes? Of course they can, especially if the contract clause allows for judicial review. We’ve heard children ask parents to explain their decisions, only to get this response:...

Success in recruiting is relational, not transactional, so keep those contacts warm and be prepared to wait for that all-star to join your team. Last year I had the privilege of watching the courting of...

President of ESG (Hot Firm #36 for 2017), a 120-person architecture and design firm based in Minneapolis. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent “We have a small SWAT team that focuses on networking and about 75 percent...

What does your contract say about the ability to recover legal fees or staff time incurred to recover unpaid fees? Good question, huh? Two recent cases show that architects with good contracts can recover not...

They count, and they need to be made across numerous fronts if you want to get your foot in the door with a new client. As the saying goes, first impressions count. Although much of...

By Richard Massey Managing Editor It started with a Volkswagen, a traffic light, and a ticket in Beaverton, Oregon, back in spring 2013. Mundane enough. But enter Swedish-born Mats Jarlstrom, the Oregon State Board of...

Due to the absence of a comprehensive, federal Good Samaritan law, A/E professionals are hesitant to lend a helping hand after an emergency. We have all heard someone in a perilous condition say, “Don’t just...

Get the word out to your people that any form of illegal conduct – bribery and racketeering among them – will be grounds for immediate termination. Last week, attorney G. William Quatman, FAIA, Esq. wrote...

Campaign finance laws, bid rigging, price fixing, and bribery. We hear about this with contractors, but how about design professionals? Several times each year, there is an article about some contractor being debarred or convicted...

By William Quatman | We all know negotiating enforceable contracts is part of the game, but in case you forgot a few things, here’s a refresher.

Lonnie Laffen, CEO of JLG Architects, is a Bison who likes burgers and fries, a big motor bike, but not politics. By Liisa Andreassen Correspondent Twenty-seven years ago, Lonnie Laffen, president and CEO of JLG...

AIA’s new push for materials transparency might help the planet, but it could also put design firms up against the wall should cases go to court. On April 8, 2016, the American Institute of Architects...

Virginia landscape architecture firm was acquired by a much larger engineering outfit from North Carolina, and big and small didn’t mesh. By Richard Massey Managing Editor The owners of what was then called H&G Landscape...

ACI Boland Architects of Kansas City was betrayed by an office manager who, over a decade, funneled millions into secret bank accounts. By Richard Massey Managing Editor A long-time office manager at one of Kansas...

San Francisco’s tallest and most luxurious residential skyscraper is sinking, leaning, and setting the stage for an epic, and even precedent-setting, bayside court battle. When it was completed in 2008, the 58-story Millennium Tower in...

In the AEC marketing world, proposals are usually treated as business as usual, but I believe we need to make them personal. I will be celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary on June 1, 2016, (I...

My husband and I had dinner one evening last week at one of our favorite local restaurants, an upscale place with a gracious staff and fantastic fare. Or, at least, we went to the restaurant...

This is part one of a two-part series on the acquisition process, written by Jamie Claire Kiser, Director of M&A Services, and Ryan Renard, Financial Analyst/Consultant. Part one focuses on the search phase of an...

Over-confidence going into a proposal or interview can create a self-fulfilling prophecy; front-runners must be sure to wow clients. We have all been there. We find out we are short-listed for that project that we...

Five facts to consider during the recruiting process at your firm. Managing expectations in an executive search process can be a burdensome task. After all, you’re eager to quickly find that perfect new team member...

Consider the unexpected in your next candidate search and you’ll be that much closer to winning the war for talent. Dwight Eisenhower made a statement once that bears repeating. He said: “Plans are nothing; planning...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 989 Originally published 1/7/2013 Employ these three tactics in your selection process and you’re likely to begin seeing significant improvements in talent acquisition...

By Jeremy Clarke Director, Executive Search Consulting ZweigWhite Recruiting and selection can be a meticulous and costly campaign. Those who recruit regularly know that an average management-level search can last 90 days or more. These...

Press Release: June 9, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 9, 2011) — Originally published in the May 2011 issue of Structural Engineering & Design, the continuing education course “BIM in a Cloud II: BIM and Cloud...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 19, 2011 Press Contact: Christina Zweig (479) 582-5700 direct (800) 466-6275 corporate (479) 445-7564 mobile ZweigWhite, LLC P.O. Box 1528 Fayetteville, AR 72702-1528 christinaz@zweigwhite.com www.zweigwhite.com FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (May 19, 2011) –Two...

Press Release: February 22, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, AR (February 23, 2011) – ZweigWhite’s new eLearning courses offer easy, convenient project management (PM) training ideally suited for today’s time-pressed, on-the-go professionals in the architecture, engineering, planning and...

One of the keys to success in business— all types of business, not just the A/E/P and environmental business— is practicing common courtesies (or perhaps they should be called not-so-common courtesies?). Architects, engineers, and scientists...

After 20 years of writing The Zweig Letter and its no-named, type-written predecessor, I feel like I know our readers. Most of you are architects, engineers, planners, and scientists. You (rightfully) consider yourselves professionals. Theoretically,...

You’re all aware of it. The “circular theory,” otherwise known as “what goes around comes around.” It’s one of nature’s laws that seems to hold true as much as the laws of physics. If you’re...

For most A/E/P and environmental consulting firms, working with a bank is a necessary part of being in business. Very few companies can get by without some sort of credit line to finance receivables or...

We work for a lot of different firms in the A/E and environmental consulting industry. We talk to a lot of different professionals out there. What’s in and what’s out these days? Here’s our view:...

The ability of an A/E or environmental consulting firm to quickly hire qualified people for any opening affects virtually every aspect of its management. I call it “supply-side human resources management.” If you think about...