New California Legislation limits Duty to Defend for Design Professionals
California SB 496 is good news for design professionals! XL Catlin's Design Professional team was instrumental in helping pass legislation to mitigate the open-ended contractual defense obligation in California. This legislation follows the watershed 2010 Court of Appeals case, UDC-Universal Development v. CH2M Hill, which held that an engineer who agrees to contractually defend its client from a third party lawsuit owes an immediate defense obligation--even if the engineer w

Client Kudos: June 2017
Cummings Architects recently completed phase one of work on a historic property in Amherst, New Hampshire. This New Hampshire Homestead features a historically inspired bathroom with a custom double vanity from salvaged boards and an open shower with exposed timber. Check out more details about the project here. Gill Fishman Associates has recently launched a new branding campaign for Gateways: Access to Jewish Education-and has won a prestigious Graphic Design USA national a

Reminder-Free Webinar Tomorrow! 2017 AIA Contract Documents: Insights and Impacts (1.5 AIA CES LUS /
June 21st, 2017 2:00 PM EST Register Here In this webinar, you'll: Hear directly from a 14-year member of the AIA Documents Committee about the rationale behind the changes and additions to the A201 Family Discover how the contract documents have been enhanced in content and format Learn how to confidently select appropriate contract families based on project size and complexity Take a closer look at the new Sustainable Projects Exhibit, which can be used on any project to ad

Claim of the Week: Stay In Your Lane
The insured, a principal of an architectural firm that focused primarily on commercial projects, was approached by one of its largest clients to design his personal residence. The client was a friend of the principal and both the client and the insured served on the board of a charitable organization in their local community. The insured had no experience in residential design work but took this project as a “favor” for his friend and top client. Prior to the project starting

Free Webinar Today! 2017 AIA Contract Revisions with Berkley Design Professional (1.5 AIA HSW LU)
Thursday, June 1st, 2017 2:00 - 3:30 PM EST Register Now This webinar will give you an insight into the AIA's revision process as well as a chance to learn about the revised Owner-Architect agreements. This program will prepare you to select appropriate AIA contracts for your particular project and practice, as well as to evaluate the suitability of alternative contract terms and language. Presenters will also discuss the new Sustainable Projects Exhibit and explore how it ca

Examining the 2017 Revision of AIA Contract Documents - Poole New York
Date: Thursday, June 29, 2017 Time: 8:00 - 9:30 AM
Cost: FREE - But you must register! LU's: 1.5 LU's (HSW) Location: Five Star Bank - Community Room CityGate, 395 Westfall Rd, Rochester, NY AIA Documents B101, B103 and other key Owner–Architect Agreements are being revised for release in 2017. Attendees will leave this session with an understanding of the 2017 revisions to the Owner-Architect agreements; will be able to select appropriate c

Poole Professional Complimentary Annual Seminar: May 17th, 2017 (Burlington, MA)
Wednesday, May 17th Registration & Continental Breakfast will begin at 7:15 am Program will run from 8:00-10:00 am This year's topics are Document Retention & Cyber Liability, and will qualify for 2 LUs/PDUs plus XL Catlin's 10% premium credit. RSVP & Questions to Kristen Johnson kjohnson@poolepl.com #Engineers #Architects #DocumentRetention #RiskManagement #Seminar

Claim of the Week: What's In Your Scope of Services?
The project at hand involved improvements to a town’s riverside recreation facility and parking area. The architect’s limited role required preparation of schematic layouts, a detailed site plan map and coordination with the town engineer for zoning approval for improvements. The town hired the architect by accepting his proposal for providing limited architectural services. In fact, once accepted, the proposal was signed and became the contract. The insured’s proposal/contr
Poole New York -- Annual Education Seminar -- 2 Dates to Choose From!
Poole Professional-New York invites you to our annual education seminar and networking program. Due to popular demand, we are offering two dates/locations this year. Tuesday May 9th Rochester, NY Location: Oak Hill County Club 145 Kilbourn Road Rochester, NY 14618 Registration & Breakfast - 7:30 am Presentation - 8:00 am Thursday May 11th Albany, NY Location: ACEC NY Office 6 Airline Drive Albany, NY 12205 Registration & Breakfast - 7:30 am Presentation - 8:00 am This year's

Berkley DP Risk Tip- BIM & Electronic Transfer: Whose Data Is It, Anyway?
The production and sharing of electronic data among project team members is prevalent in the design and construction industry. In order to manage the evolving and emerging risks of electronic communication, it is critical to have an electronic data exchange agreement with any party that you are sharing data files with, particularly if Building Information Modeling (BIM) is being utilized. These agreements must define the expectations, responsibility and accountability for use