According to Alison Killing of Killing Architects in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the role of the architect in modern society is undergoing a shift: moving away from the architect as a “master builder”, towards someone who is a specialist in the “built environment”.

New Generations – Killing Architects from New Generations on Vimeo.

Killing Architects recently won first prize in a competition on the future of architecture practice. The contest was put on by the New Generations network of young European architects in late 2013. Watch Ms. Killing’s short interview about the role of architects, and the opportunities for young architects who are willing to take risks and commit to research as a major part of their individual practice.

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We’re especially proud of our partnership with the Society for Design Administration (SDA). Our members are well aware of the important role office administrators play in design firms, particularly when it comes to insurance matters. Today, we want to congratulate Penny Nelson, Director of Finance for Douglas Pancake Architects in Irvine, California, on passing the SDA Certified Design Firm Administrators exam! Ms. Nelson is the Orange County SDA’s Chapter President.

What is CDFA?

The SDA, the recognized leader in education for best practices in the A/E/C industry, offers a credential that recognizes your achieved administrative and management expertise, the Certified Design Firm Administrator (CDFA) designation. The CDFA credential is a voluntary certification designed to elevate the professional standards in design firm management and administration and contribute to the firm’s organizational growth and maturity through better practices in firm management. The credential comprised by the SDA’s Certification Program distinguishes and supports the roles performed by the spectrum of administrators and managers in the A/E/C firm. Furthermore, enhanced marketability and increased earning potential are just two of the many benefits CDFA certification provides.

CDFA certification recognizes an individual who has met a rigorous standard of experience and expertise in design firm management and administration and who has demonstrated their knowledge of the practice and related disciplines through a thorough examination of management and administrative competencies. This individual further adheres to the ethics and responsibilities of the profession as outlined in the SDA Code of Ethics.

Read more about the CDFA at the SDA’s website…

Last year,  we announced that a/e ProNet will pay one half of a new SDA member’s dues if that member’s insurance broker belongs to a/e ProNet… Chapters can partner with the local broker and reach out to principals and managers in their network. How about that for a good deal! Contact your local a/e ProNet broker today…

Shout-out Credit:

Alicia K. Igram, AAI, VP & Branch Rep
Design & Consulting Liability Specialist
IOA Insurance Services – Aliso Viejo, CA
Email: Alicia.Igram@ioausa.com / Phone: 949-680-1789

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The David W. Lakamp a/e Pronet scholarship deadline has been extended to June 11, 2014. Get your application in a soon as possible!

Two students, who best demonstrate strong interest in practice management, will each receive a $5,000 award. The scholarship is open to fourth year undergraduates and graduate students of architecture enrolled in a NAAB- accredited professional degree program. Submissions are reviewed by jury panel that consists members of the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community (PMKC) and the a/e ProNet organization. Candidates must submit a copy of their transcripts, two letters of recommendation, and an essay on how they would resolve a project management dilemma.

For more information about the scholarship click here. To download the application click here .

You can also read about past scholarship winners on the blog.

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We were excited to see that AIA Florida picked up this timely article by Mark Jackson of Jackson Collinsworth Johnson, an a/e ProNet member. Hope you find it helpful, too!

There are two important contract clauses that design professionals should include with every client contract. The first clause provides protection to individuals and the second limits the firm’s liability.

Individual Protection

The first clause we recommend gives individual protection for your licensed professionals. In 2013, the State of Florida signed a law relating to design professionals known as the Fairness in Liability legislation. Beginning July 1, 2013, design firms are now able to negotiate contracts that protect their professional employees from being sued individually by their clients.

The new law grants design professional employees immunity from liability for economic damages resulting from negligence occurring during the course and scope of a professional services contact. The law does require that the design firm maintain professional liability insurance as required under the contract.

The new law also extends to individuals the protection of contractual limitation of liability clauses. This comes four years after the courts ruled that individual professional employees were not protected by limitation of liability clauses in a contract. (Florida appellate court case Witt v. La Gorce Country Club, Inc., 34 Fla.L., Weekly D1161a)

Design professionals should take advantage of the benefits of this new law. Your contracts should be amended to include language that an individual employee cannot be held liable for negligence. The law has five conditions for this protection to apply:

1. The contract is made between the design firm and the client.
2. Individual employees are not to be named as a party to the contract. All professional services contracts need to be made between the client and the business entity.
3. The design firm must maintain Professional Liability insurance, as required by contract.
4. The contract contains a prominent statement, in uppercase font that is at least five point sizes larger than the rest of the text, that an individual employee or agent may not be individually liable for negligence.
5. Any damages are solely economic in nature and the damages do not extend to personal injuries or property not subject to the contract.

To continue reading, download the PDF here…

Ghost town architecture is rarely lauded for its form, style, efficiency, and grace. Enter Lone Mountain Ranch House, located on the turquoise trail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Lone Mountain Ranch House by Rick Joy - Photo Credit Peter OgilvieThe design by Rick Joy Architects has been called “a light-filled twist on the low-slung form” by the Architectural Record blog.

The American West merges with the Far East on a 27,000-acre Wagyu-cattle ranch in a ghost town called Golden, New Mexico. Tucson-based architect Rick Joy designed a six-bedroom house for a couple who inherited the land. ‘They went to Japan, learned all about [Wagyu], got the stock, and put together this company selling beef around the country,’ says Joy. ‘Interestingly, the house turned out to be very Japanese in feel.’ — excerpted from Laura Raskin’s article for Architectural Record Continue reading “Lone Mountain Ranch House by Rick Joy”

PNN_201401_Design Professionals and the Dodd-Frank ActThe following is the introduction to Design Professionals and the Dodd-Frank Act, the January 2014 issue of ProNetwork News:

On September 18, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the final rule under the Dodd-Frank Act regarding the registration of municipal advisors. The new rules were published in the Federal Register and became effective on November 20, 2013. This article will provide a general discussion of how the Dodd-Frank Act and the final rules may impact engineers and other design professionals providing services to non-federal governmental clients. You should seek legal advice for your specific situation as this article only provides general information and is not intended to provide legal advice or interpretation of the Act for particular situations.

“Engineers providing engineering services” are specifically excluded from the statutory definition of “municipal advisor” set forth in the Dodd-Frank Act.1 As such, engineers do not need to be registered as municipal advisors provided that they are not giving advice or making recommendations regarding municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities. Unfortunately the Act provides no clear line of demarcation of when an engineer’s advice or recommendation falls outside of the “engineering services” exclusion. The final rule does provide some guidance as to the scope of the engineering services exclusion. Unfortunately, the exact location of the line separating permitted engineering advice from advice requiring the engineer to be a registered advisor remains blurred.2 We suspect it will take several years before enough real world situations are evaluated by the SEC to provide effective guidance of how the SEC will interpret the statutory engineering exclusion. Unfortunately, this clarity will likely develop through the court system as suits are filed alleging that engineers crossed the line into giving prohibited advice on projects where the revenue streams or operating costs do not match the projections. Consequently, until the line is clarified, we recommend a cautious and conservative approach. Continue reading “Design Professionals and the Dodd-Frank Act”

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The following is a re-post from the Southeast Construction Law Blog:

Contractors, subcontractors, and A&E firms all face differing levels of liability on construction projects. Managing that exposure is a key to maintaining profitability and ensuring your business is protected.

One issue I consistently see in my practice is companies taking too much liability for their scope of work on a project. For example, what should the liability of a subcontractor be who has a small $25,000 subcontract on a $15 million project? Should the subcontractor be liable for any and all damages?

Many subcontract agreements state that subcontractors are responsible for “any and all costs” caused by a subcontractor’s delay or interference with any portion of the work. While each party should be liable for damages it causes, this determination is never as clear as it seems.

General contractors (and sometimes owners) often control the timing, means, and methods of how a subcontractor performs its work. In those situations, it is difficult for me to explain to a subcontractor that it is liable for everything it does on site. Even so, many subcontractors’ feet are held to the fire for delay costs in the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollar range when their contract was initially very small.

Architecture and engineering firms face a similar dilemma. Many times A&E firms are brought into lawsuits in the millions of dollars when their scope of work may have been small. I have seen a civil engineer sued for $12 million when it performed a $1,600 staking job on a project.

In addition, A&E firms face a different challenge. Even if an architect or engineer prevails on the claim, the A&E firm has likely spent thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees, all chargeable to the A&E under the deductible in the Professional Liability Insurance policy. Continue reading “Are You Accepting Too Much Liability on Your Construction Project?”

What if, instead of architects creating buildings only for those who can afford to commission them, regular citizens could design and build their own houses?

This is the concept at the heart of Wikihouse, an open source construction kit. With this tool, just about anyone can build a house, anywhere.

Alastair Parvin: Architecture for the people by the people

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In this fascinating TED Talk, Architect Alastair Parvin explains his vision for 21st century architecture and design: With the prevalence of open source software, 3-D printers, and other technological advances, the focus of the design industry may now shift from “thinking big” to “thinking small.” Challenging the effectiveness and affordability of one-size-fits-all.

According to Parvin, the stars have aligned to allow us a new industrial revolution, one founded on the democratization of production. Watch as he gives us a one-day-build house, compares citizen-led urban development to the barn-raising cultures of 19th century societies, and evangelizes for open source pioneer Linus Torvalds‘s philosophy: Be lazy like a fox.

How does this strike you? Is it plausible? Practical? Do you think the IKEA-fication of architecture and construction is a good idea or a bad one? Leave us a comment!

MORE: The 10 Most Inspirational TED Talks for Architects

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Spring is in the air, and optimism surrounding the construction industry is at a new high!

We don’t want to kill the buzz, but this is as good a time as any to remember that your design firm isn’t impervious to crime-related loss or damage. Your insurance policy can (and should!) include a few specific coverages to protect you against things like Employee Dishonesty, Burglary, and Computer Fraud.

The following is an excerpt from our Typical Coverages for Design Professionals, and we hope it will educate you and give you some peace of mind:

COMMERCIAL CRIME COVERAGES

Commercial Crime Coverages include several separate insuring agreements. Some or all of these individual coverages may be selected, depending on the individual needs of a design firm:

Employee Dishonesty: This coverage pays for loss sustained by the insured employer up to a specified amount, caused by a dishonest act of an employee or employees covered under the policy. This includes dishonest acts of the embezzlement of money or property, including inventory, owned by the insured.

Forgery or Alteration: This coverage pays for loss sustained by the insured employer for forgery or alteration of checks (including blank checks) issued by the insured. Coverage may be extended to include checks forged or altered by employees as well as others. Continue reading “Commercial Crime Coverages for Architects & Engineers”