By Candelario Lopez
Director of Learning Management
Berkley Design Professional, a Berkley Company
June 4, 2026
Are you looking for a way to stand out from the competition and deliver more value to your architect and engineer (A&E) clients—before a policy is even bound?
Berkley Design Professional’s BDP Risk® Early Access Program is built with exactly that goal in mind. It gives your clients early entry to our risk management education platform and provides an opportunity to qualify for an upfront premium credit that would otherwise only be available at renewal. The result: a stronger submission, a more informed client, and a meaningful advantage in a competitive quoting situation.
What is Early Access?
Early Access program gives your quoted prospects an exclusive preview of Berkley Design Professional’s award-winning risk management education platform—BDP Risk®—which offers a range of association registered eLearning courses, tools and templates designed to improve risk management practices and enhance business performance.
Here’s the best part: When a prospect completes a BDP Risk® course before binding, they are eligible for a 15% premium credit.* This early risk management engagement and associated cost savings have proven to be decisive factors in helping brokers close new business.
How does Early Access work?
The process is simple and broker-friendly:
- Request access. Contact your Berkley Design Professional underwriter to request Early Access for your quoted prospect.
- Platform orientation. Our Risk Management team will schedule a short online tour of the BDP Risk® platform, so your client quickly understands what’s available and how to use it.
- Course completion. We keep an eye on the effective date and proactively guide the prospect through completion of a qualifying eLearning course prior to binding.
- Upfront credit. Upon course completion, the Risk Management team notifies your underwriter so that a credit can be applied, helping to reduce the first-year premium.
There is no additional paperwork, no complex tracking, and no administrative burden for you or your client—just a streamlined way to introduce proactive risk management from day one.
Why do brokers take advantage of Early Access?
Early Access allows you to demonstrate value immediately, not just promise it.
By offering meaningful education and an upfront financial benefit, you position yourself as a proactive advisor who understands both risk and business realities. That combination resonates with design professionals, and it shows in the results.
More than 88% of prospects who participate in Early Access go on to bind coverage with Berkley Design Professional.
In a competitive market, Early Access helps your proposal stand out for the right reasons.
What’s in it for design professionals?
While the upfront credit is compelling, it’s only part of the value.
Through Early Access, your clients gain immediate entry to one of the most comprehensive risk management platforms in the A&E space, including:
- 70+ continuing education/learning units, including some that qualify for Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW).
- 400+ risk and practice management resources, including articles, guides and on-demand webinars covering contracts, claims, project management, leadership and more.
- Role-based learning plans tailored for staff at all levels of the organization.
- Practical business tools that can improve business practices, including a Contract Review Guide, Go/No-Go checklists and project planning and management templates.
- Concierge support from Berkley Design Professional’s dedicated Learning Management System (LMS) team.
- Harmony, an AI-powered Virtual Risk Manager designed to deliver timely, practical guidance when firms need it most.
BDP Risk® is accessible online and through a mobile app, allowing users to engage with content whenever and wherever it fits their schedule.
A win-win for you and your clients
The BDP Risk® Early Access Program is a practical way to show value early and build stronger client relationships. Your prospects gain meaningful resources and potential rewards for engaging in risk management. You gain a stronger submission, a more informed client, and a higher likelihood of binding the account.
If you’re not already using Early Access, reach out to your underwriter and request BDP Risk® credentials for your next quoted prospect. One small step can make a measurable difference on your next new business opportunity.
*Please note that the education credit opportunity applies only to primary policies; excess policies are not eligible. In limited circumstances, such as primary policies subject to minimum premium requirements, the education rating credit may not be applicable.
About the Author
Candelario Lopez is the Director of Learning Management at Berkley Design Professional, a Berkley Company. Candelario manages the BDP Risk® Learning Management System (LMS) and provides risk management education consultations with policyholders to ensure they utilize fully the BDP Risk® LMS. Candelario leads the team responsible for developing and implementing the Online Broker Academy.
For the prior 10 years, Candelario developed and managed training and development for medical device and technology companies. He is an experienced Instructional Designer with 15 years of training and content development experience in government, medical device, healthcare, and finance industries. Candelario earned a Master’s degree in education from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from California State University Monterey Bay in Seaside, California. Candelario is based in Monterey, California, and can be reached at [email protected].
