Design firms provide professional services to their clients, and the agreement to provide these services should be well documented in their contracts. To protect both the design firm and its clients, it is essential to have well-drafted professional services agreements that manage contractual risks. These agreements outline the terms and conditions of the project, including... Continue Reading →
Even if you are the preeminent firm in the country in the design of sports stadiums, museums, airports, etc., it would be unwise to agree to provide services as defined in a recently reviewed contract: The Construction Documents and all other services provided by Architect under this Agreement shall be free from defects when measured... Continue Reading →
A contract that I was recently asked to review required the engineer to guarantee engineering cost estimates to be within a 10% accuracy range. It further required that for every 5% outside of the accuracy range, the engineer would forfeit 2% of the engineering fee. The engineer wanted to know if this exposure is covered... Continue Reading →
When I review a contract, I give it a quick glance and broadly categorize it as either “reasonable” or one with “weasel words” before I delve into the review. Weasel words is my characterization of clauses that unreasonably shift risk to one party. Although I often use the term for owner-drafted contracts, I have run... Continue Reading →
