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

By Lauren Martin | Including certificates of merit in contracts protects AEC firms and strengthens legal defenses against unsubstantiated claims.

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.

By Lauren Martin | If you find yourself facing a lawsuit alleging malpractice, here’s what you need to look for when considering an expert witness.

By Lauren Martin | Avoid confusion with your client (and with potential fact finders) by defining your role on the project from the very outset.

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

By Mark Zweig | Many of these things will increase the value of your ownership in an external, or even internal, transition.

By Mark Zweig | A few of the reasons a great, successful firm can falter and experience a fall from grace.

By Rob Hughes | Many design firms that adjusted their workplace to address COVID-19 face heightened exposures to employment-related litigation and related negative consequences.

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.

In the current economic environment, avoid costly payment disputes and counterclaims by choosing clients carefully and staying on top of your receivables and collections.

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

“I find that using some of these other ‘screens’ can actually lead to greater success in buying.”

“If you approach feedback from the standpoint that you are trying to help your people – even if it is negative – most will appreciate you.”

AEC firms must be diligent during design and construction to avoid becoming ‘responsible’ for worksite injuries or death. Although site safety generally is the responsibility of construction contractors and subcontractors, when injuries or deaths occur...

The true character of any firm can be determined by how it responds to adversity, and that character is usually embodied in the troubleshooter. The troubleshooter. Every A/E and environmental services firm has at least...

Does the specter or a 9 1/2-year lawsuit deter you from the HOA market? Try adding a 20-year maintenance clause to protect your firm. Have you or any of your friends owned a condominium? If...

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...

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...

By assessing how they plan to use drones, and by carefully evaluating related risks, A/E firms will benefit from this new capability. As more A/E firms begin integrating drones into their operations, they need to...

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...

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...

Are you getting all you need from HR today? Three suggestions from Mark Zweig. Human resources management often gets a bad rap. That isn’t without cause. In my experience, too many HR managers forget whose...

This article first appeared in The Zweig Letter (ISSN 1068-1310) Issue # 985` Originally published 12/3/2012 Mark Zweig enumerates a series of actions and credos that will help you maximize your potential. Think whatever you...

Press Release: June 6, 2011 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 6, 2011) — Construction forensics could help divide the genuine from the bogus when it comes to green and sustainable design, a report from the May 31...

Frank Beutellow was growing increasingly frustrated. It seemed to him that everyone who joined his firm, Beut Engineering, lately, was not as good as the person who left the firm before them. Morale was bad—...

The balance sheet in an A/E or environmental firm is supposed to show what you have and what you owe. The difference between the two is the “net worth” of the company. It all sounds...

Turnover is costly. All of the human resources experts can tell you that— some could even give you the real cost of turnover for any specific position to the penny if you wanted it! Staff...

I’m no fan of most of the performance appraisal systems I see used in A/E/P and environmental consulting firms. The simple fact of the matter is they don’t work. They don’t motivate anyone to do...

We held our 2004 AEC Mergers and Acquisitions Summit at the Biltmore in Coral Gables, Florida, the first week in December. The food and accommodations were great, and the meetings were a success. As someone...

Hiring enough people— and the right ones— is where it’s at today. How well an A/E/P or environmental firm does this really is either an impediment (or stimulus) to growth. It impacts every area of...

He’s a really nice person, a “people person.” He’s someone who deeply cares about other people. He’s a really good listener. He’s someone the employees will confide in. Does this sound like the ideal human...

With times as good as they are, particularly for architecture, engineering, and building-related environmental consulting firms, it’s hard to think about failure. But there are still firms going out of business and firms on the...

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...

There is a lot of merger and acquisition activity today. It seems like just about everybody is looking to buy or merge with someone else. We’ve never seen a higher level of interest in acquisitions....

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not the sentimental type. But I must say— I love the people who work here. I love them because they work so hard, they never complain,...

Let me tell you a little story about two managers. Both head divisions for the same large, international engineering and environmental company. By most any standard, one of the two, who we’ll call “Jed,” is...

TQM (Total Quality Management) for A/E/P firms is nothing more than a fad. I’d be willing to bet right here and now that in two or three years, you won’t hear anything about it. TQM...