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By Leslie Neath | Marketing should give strategy a voice by connecting today’s strengths with the markets and services shaping tomorrow.

By Mark Zweig | Stop measuring success by utilization – revenue factor reveals what really drives profit in architecture and engineering firms.

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...

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 Luke Carothers | Our industry must look to places like Cairo as an example of how ambition can shape the built environment.

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

Domestic Transactions: 10/3/2022 Civil engineering firm VHB (Watertown, MA) acquired landscape architecture firm HG Design Studio (Richmond, VA). Link to Details.   10/3/2022 Kimley-Horn (Raleigh, NC), a planning and design consulting firm, acquired full-service structural design and consulting firm Pangolin Structural (Phoenix, AZ). Link...

By Mark Hodges | If you’re not taking a proactive approach to your firm’s cybersecurity, this could be the year you decide to go out of business without realizing it.

By Mark Zweig | Give yourself a chance to get a lot done and you may be surprised at your ability to keep all those plates spinning.

By Mark Zweig | Just because you hear other firm leaders are pushing for something, that doesn’t mean it’s right for your firm.

By Rob Hughes | This subtle but onerous language is becoming fairly widespread in design contracts and, if overlooked, could leave design firms with significant, potentially uninsured exposures.

By Mark Zweig | Many people in this business will say they agree with this idea, yet the people doing the hiring rarely do it.

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.

Careful review of certifications with your legal counsel and insurance advisor will enable you to better address the needs of your clients and lenders.

Former president of CobbFendley (Houston, TX), a 530-person firm that is committed to providing innovative engineering solutions with the goal of bettering communities.

Before you pass the torch, you need to make sure that your next generation of leaders is up to the task.

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

Successful leaders have to be able to deliver tough messages. Use these six strategies to navigate difficult conversations.

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

“We invite you to celebrate the industry while learning from its best-performing firms and leaders.”

“Are you trying to play the role of the high-flying entrepreneurial CEO in a large firm with lots of resources instead of thinking of yourself as a business owner?”

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

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...

With the unequivocal success of this year’s Hot Firm & A/E Industry Awards Conference in Dallas, all eyes now turn to Las Vegas in 2019. By Richard Massey Editor Chad Clinehens, Zweig Group’s president and...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

If improperly worded, they not only can shift significant risks, but do so in ways that leave design professionals exposed to potentially large claims. A critical component of effective risk management for design firms involves...

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...

I love human resources people. Believe it or not, I was one of them once. I even authored the only hardcover book published on the topic for the A/E industry, Human Resources Management: The Complete...

Even minor changes in contract language can create major liability and insurance issues for design firms, so be aware of what’s out there and act accordingly. Today’s contracts involving design firms and owners, project managers...

It doesn’t look good right now, but in a changing world, architects will always be needed. There’s a lot of discussion about the future of architecture. It’s happening in the media, it’s occurring in the...

No method of communication is perfect, but each is best for certain situations, Mark Zweig writes. As leaders and managers of A/E/P or environmental firms, we all share one thing: lack of time. We work...

It’s your employees; Mark Zweig offers five solutions to help deal with them better. I got a call from an old friend of mine from Boston the other day. He wanted to tell me how...

By Mark C. Zweig We have come a long way in the A/E/P business over the last 30 years. Not only is it OK to market to clients, we even have computers on every desk...

Steve Tomlinson was in shock. He always took great pride in the work output of his now 80-person environmental firm, Tomlinson Consultants. But the truth was, as they grew, their quality was getting worse and...

How many times have you heard it? Someone turns in their notice to leave and the response of his or her immediate supervisor is: “We didn’t need Bob (or Sue), anyway,” or, “We were going...

We’ve been at this business for some time now— and have worked with hundreds of A/E/P and environmental firms whose principals wanted to sell. Unfortunately, we can’t help all of them— just those who will...

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...

It’s hard to grow if you can’t keep the people you already have working for you. Every time someone leaves you have to replace them. And it’s as hard or harder than ever— as well...

I recently agreed to serve as an outside member on the board of directors (BOD) for one of our client companies. This is not the first (nor probably the last) time I have done this....

Human resources people are big on job descriptions. I was never that fond of them because it seems that they can always be used against you somehow. Here are some examples: “I meet the requirements...

Everyone in our country seems to be worried about terrorists. Undoubtedly, there are some good reasons to be concerned. But maybe the trouble is even closer to home— like in your own firm. We find...

Right now, everyone seems to be interested in profits. 2001 shook owners and employees alike. And even though most firms had a decent year (but “decent” is not the same as “great”), most made about...

I was doing my usual deep thinking in the shower this morning, and I started wondering what I would do if I were on a flight that terrorists were hijacking. My first thoughts were about...

Doug Pocketprotectus sat in the high-backed leather chair in the executive conference room and desperately tried to stay awake. It was hard to do. The meeting was so boring, and he was sleep deprived as...

Remember the story about the emperor who had no clothes? Everyone was afraid to tell him, though, so he paraded around in the buff and made a complete fool of himself. I see the same...

Now lie in it. I’ve been a believer in the adage that you make your own luck. But that’s not just good luck, it’s bad luck, too. Make bad decisions, do the wrong thing, and...

I don’t mind telling our readers that it’s a great feeling to have a vehicle such as The Zweig Letter to share my thoughts so widely. Along with that comes a certain responsibility not to...

Having a hard time keeping your staff? Are your new graduates working a year or two and then moving on? Are your mid-level folks, just below principal, moving on before you move them up? If...

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...

If you’re anything like me, you hate to fire people. It’s at the top of my “least desirable activities” list, above even performance appraisals, collection calls, cold calls, and dental extractions. Most halfway-decent folks feel...

If I could give only one caution to principals of A/E/P and environmental firms, it would not be “grow slowly so you don’t over-expand and outstrip your managerial capabilities.” Nor would it be “watch every...

From time to time, architects and other design professionals all come under fire from the business types for not being sufficiently “business-minded.” And, the standard line of defense from those under attack is “I didn’t...