Architecture Archives - Page 6 of 14

Blog Love: TLCD Architecture

By Lynda

Architects and engineers already share their voices with the world through their designs and ideas, but we love it when this group gets proactive about amplifying their voices online, too. Today we want to highlight the blog of one a/e ProNet member’s client: TLCD Architecture in California.

TLCD Today is a fun, colorful blog that deals with issues relevant to the design industry in ways both focused and abstract. The blog’s multiple authors take time to interact with design colleagues at national conferences (Healthcare Design Conference Highlights), as well as with the firm’s local business community (Local Impact of the Affordable Care Act). It’s also inspiring to see architects use their specific skill set to give back to people in need (Habitat for Humanity Build Day). Well done, TLCD! Keep up the good work. We’ll be reading!

Does your architecture or engineering firm have a blog? Share it with us in the comments below. We’d love to follow you!

Shout-out Credit:

Leslie Pancoast, CIC, RPLU
Managing Partner
IOA Insurance Services – Pleasanton, CA
Email: Leslie.Pancoast@ioausa.com / Phone: 925-416-7862

Architecture Students: We Expanded Our Scholarship! (Deadline: November 29)

By Lynda

a/e ProNet is excited to announce the expansion of the a/e ProNet David W Lakamp/AIA Scholarship. For more than two decades, our organizations have partnered to award two scholarships each year to rising senior or graduate architectural students. At the annual a/e ProNet meeting in Chicago this September, our Board of Directors authorized the increase of the scholarship amount from $2,500 to $5,000 apiece. These changes will take effect with the 2013 scholarship. The deadline for this year’s scholarship application is November 29.

Visit our website for more details about this scholarship for architecture students. Applications and submission details can be found at the AIA website. Applications and supplementary materials can be submitted via email to pmkc@aia.org in PDF format.

In 2012, two recipients were awarded the a/e ProNet David W. Lakamp Scholarship. To read their case study topic responses, please click here.

Questions? Please send inquiries to: pmkc@aia.org

Insurance 102: Property Coverages for Architects & Engineers

By Lynda

This issue of ProNetwork News is meant to serve as a basic reference guide to the property insurance coverages typically purchased by design firms. Last month we posted a companion piece, Insurance 101: The Things You Always Wanted to Know About Liability Coverage But Were Afraid to Ask.

We continue our overview of insurance products of interest to design professionals with this review of property coverages that may apply to the needs of your particular practice. As always, we encourage you to ask your broker what insurance is right for you.

BUSINESS PROPERTY INSURANCE

Whether you lease or own your office, you need to insure office equipment, furniture, fixtures, computer equipment, phone systems, fax/copiers, valuable papers and fine arts for fire, theft and water damage. Insuring these valuables for “replacement cost” on an “all-risk form” means that your business is most likely to be reimbursed properly for a covered loss. If you lease furniture and equipment, the lessor will require this coverage and will be designated as a “loss payee.” Landlords of rented property usually require their tenants to maintain property coverage for the rented space to cover improvements and betterments provided to the leaseholder.

Since most design firms are heavily dependent on computer systems, it is important to properly inventory equipment and software.. For example, the cost to reproduce plans and specifications kept on computer files is significant when considering the insured value of valuable papers and records. However, no limit of insurance is a substitute for reliable backup procedures.

Stand-alone IT coverage packages, including security breach, are evolving almost daily. They can cover both first party losses (yours) and third-party losses (those for which you may be liable to others). Ask your broker what products may best apply to your needs.

VALUABLE PAPERS INSURANCE

A/E firms have in their possession valuable papers and documents whose destruction would prove very costly. Maps, plans, specifications and books are some examples. All-risk protection is generally available excluding wear and tear, gradual deterioration and vermin. Certain valuable papers may be insured specifically, or “scheduled.” More commonly, a blanket limit is established to cover all valuable papers. Articles insured on a blanket basis are covered for their replacement cost. Scheduled items are covered on a valued basis even though it is not possible to replace them with like kind and quality. Continue reading “Insurance 102: Property Coverages for Architects & Engineers”

Koning Eizenberg Wins at World Architecture Festival

By Lynda

We’d like to congratulate Santa Monica architecture firm Koning Eizenberg on their recent win at the 2013 World Architecture Festival! They received the prestigious Housing Award for their 28th Street Apartments project in Los Angeles, California.

The World Architecture Festival, held in Singapore earlier this month, gathered over 1,750 architects from around the world to exchange ideas and inspiration for design. This year, only 15 of the 260 shortlisted projects were from the USA, and Koning Eizenberg was the only American firm to receive an award.

Referring to the 28th Street Apartments, the judges noted: “This project demonstrates architecture as an agent for social transformation. The architect was able to knit together historical continuity and something very new, something of high architectural value.”

Koning Eizenberg’s website describes the project this way: “The restoration and expansion of a landmark YMCA built in 1926 restores principal spaces, reconfigures original housing, and innovatively adds replacement units. The design re-establishes this building’s role as an important community focus and brings living quarters in compliance with contemporary standards.” Read more on their website.

It’s so exciting to see our members’ clients set themselves apart on the world stage this way. Well done, Koning Eizenberg!

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

Did you hear the one about the architect?

By Lynda

For Monday, a few jokes about our favorite professionals… architects & engineers:

After working with our design staff for months on the renovation of an existing building for our office, we asked ourselves, “How many architects does it take to design an architect’s office?” The answer: too many! — Linda Derivi, AIA

When a surgeon makes a mistake they bury the patient. When an architect makes a mistake all one can do is plant vines. — Tim Stormont

An architect is said to be a man who knows a very little about a great deal and keeps knowing less and less about more and more until he knows practically nothing about everything, whereas, on the other hand, an engineer is a man who knows a great deal about very little and who goes along knowing more and more about less and less until finally he knows practically everything about nothing. A contractor starts out knowing practically everything about everything, but ends up by knowing nothing about anything, due to his association with architects and engineers. — AglaiaDaae

The optimist says the glass is half full. The pessimist says the glass is half empty. The engineer says the glass is twice the size it needs to be. — MukMan

Inspired by a recent post on the AIA California Council blog.

a/e ProNet Holds Annual Meeting in Chicago

By Lynda

Chicago, IL, October 01, 2013 –(PR.com)– This week, a/e ProNet will hold its annual fall meeting at the Embassy Suites Downtown/Lakefront in Chicago. a/e ProNet is a nationwide network of independent insurance brokers specializing in the professional liability needs of architects and engineers.Members from across the country will convene to meet with representatives from several top-tier professional liability insurance companies and discuss changes in the industry, as well as to participate in a number of smaller events.

Over the course of the three-day meeting (October 2—4, 2013), eleven professional liability insurance carriers are scheduled to make presentations: RLI, Travelers, Hanover, AXIS, Catlin, HCC, Liberty, Beazley, Navigators, AllRisk and Victor O. Schinnerer. Each presentation will include information about the insurance company’s products, policy forms and endorsements, claims, risk management offerings, etc.

On Thursday night, a/e ProNet will host a reception for its members and insurance company representatives, as well as members of the Risk Management Committees of NSPE, AIA and ACEC. The reception will be held at The Rookery in Chicago, a space designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Established in 1988, a/e ProNet’s member-brokers represent a combined annual professional liability premium volume exceeding $300 million. At this meeting, a/e ProNet will explore the possibility of extending its scope to include Lawyers Professional Liability insurance. To that end, five insurance companies (Beazley, AXIS Capital, Catlin, Travelers and Ironshore) will present on their lawyers’ professional liability insurance program offerings, as well.

Learn more about a/e ProNet

a/e ProNet offers a wide range of Risk Management resources to all design professionals via the a/e ProNet website including: Practice Notes, Guest Essays, ProNetwork News, Contract Concerns, Typical Coverages and Frequently Asked Questions. For relevant industry news and risk management information, you can also follow The ProNet Blog and/or follow a/e ProNet on Twitter.

Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects No. 1 in Sustainable Design

By Lynda

a/e ProNet client Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects of San Francisco has been named to Architect Magazine’s Architect 50 again, and this time they’ve received a top honor!

Earlier this year, we blogged one of LMSA’s award-winning sustainable projects, the Merritt Crossing Senior Apartments in Oakland, California.

Find out more about the Architect 50 at Architect Magazine’s website, including the Top 50 Business, Top 50 Design, and Top 50 Sustainability.

Congratulations, LMSA!

Shout-Out Credit:

Leslie Pancoast, CIC, RPLU
Managing Partner
IOA Insurance Services – Pleasanton, CA
Email: Leslie.Pancoast@ioausa.com / Phone: 925-416-7862

A New A&E Resource: Beazley Pro Inaugural Issue

By Lynda

One of the several excellent insurance companies a/e ProNet works with has a new risk management resource for their professional clients: Beazley Pro.

We think our readers will be most interested in the Claims Corner; three scenarios, three discussions, three lessons learned. An example of a claim outlined in the Summer 2013 issue…

Engineer granted rare summary judgement

Facts: After sustaining serious injuries in a fall in a sports facility parking lot, the plaintiff sued the property owner, who in turn filed a third-party action against our insured, an engineer. This suit against the engineer alleged that deficiencies and code violations in his design of the facility’s parking lot (specifically its handicap access ramp and lighting) were to blame for the fall. A site visit revealed that the lighting and lighting tower location in the parking lot were not as the engineer had specified. During deposition, the paving contractor affirmed that he used the engineer’s plan for pricing only, not for construction. Hence, there was no causal connection between any design deficiencies in the engineer’s plans and the plaintiff’s serious fall and injuries. Counsel moved for summary judgment, which was granted in full. Continue reading “A New A&E Resource: Beazley Pro Inaugural Issue”

a/e ProNet Partners with the Society for Design Administration (SDA)

By Lynda

In May this year, the Society for Design Administration (SDA), the nation’s largest professional organization for architectural and engineering design firm administrators and managers, announced its endorsement of a/e ProNet.

The proper management of professional risk factors such as contract administration, project administration, and document management are known factors in reducing professional risk in a/e firms. Both SDA and a/e ProNet are dedicated to providing a/e firms the necessary tools to better manage risk and improve firm management. ~ Deborah A Gill, CPA, CGMA, CDFA, 2013 SDA President

As announced in the June/July 2013 issue of SDA Today, “a/e ProNet will pay one half of a new SDA member’s dues if that member’s insurance agent belongs to a/e ProNet… Chapters can partner with the local broker and reach out to principals and managers in their network.”

a/e ProNet and the SDA will also collaborate on a number of educational events, including the SDA’s annual EDSymposium conference. Last year, past a/e ProNet President, Leslie Pancoast, made two presentations at EDSymposium12 in Portland, Oregon, and current a/e ProNet President Jeff Todd spoke at EDSymposium13 in Williamsburg, Virginia earlier this year.

We look forward to a long and successful partnership with the SDA.