Core Values are Key

Posted by & filed under BDP Blog.

By Robert J. Connor, JD, CIC
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company

April 7, 2022

As we get ready to celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and think about making our world a happier, healthier place to live, it makes me think about our corporate environments. What makes them a happier, healthier place to work?

Discovering, communicating and living your organizations authentic core values sure does. Core values light the way for your employees, lead other people to join your organization and encourage others to do business with it.

Core values are not created out of thin air. A company needs to discover them. They are the essence of who the company is and what they will become.

The definition of “core” is “the central or most important part of something.” The definition of “values” is “a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life”. A key word in each definition is “important”. Thinking about that definition, what is important to companies with whom you conduct business?

This is a key question to ask companies with whom you are considering doing business with. Do they believe what you believe and value what you value? If your values are not in alignment with those you transact business with, then there are likely to be issues as the relationship grows and evolves.

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Why Your Contract Needs a Limitation of Liability Clause

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By Cindy Russell
Assistant Vice President, Senior Claims Examiner, Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company

March 10, 2022

News headlines: Architect pays $1 Million for Design Error on $15 Million Construction Project; Civil Engineer Tagged with a $250,000 Jury Verdict Because of Drainage Design Error – I could go on. Want to avoid your name in a headline like this? Include a limitation of liability clause in all your contracts (or as many as you can) and then the headline might read: Design Professional Only Pays $50,000 After $1 Million Verdict.

Contracts are a valuable tool for protecting design professionals when considering and agreeing to participate in projects. One way a contract can do this is by including a limitation of liability clause to manage the potential financial risks involved. However, note that the enforceability of this type of contract clause varies from state to state.

Some things to keep in mind when drafting a limitation of liability clause:

  • it should be reasonable (you’re unlikely to get a client to agree to a limitation of $10,000 when your fee is $500,000). The limit can be a specific dollar amount, equal to your fee or limited to the available limit on your professional liability policy;
  • it may need to be more visible than all the other contract terms and conditions (for example, underlined, bolded or a larger font), depending upon case law in the state governing the contract;
  • and the contract is strongest if signed by both parties (in some jurisdictions the contract and/or its terms and conditions may not be enforceable if it’s not signed).
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Complimentary Webinar: Ethics for Engineers, Architects, and Other Design Professionals

Posted by & filed under Events.

Presented by:
Brian Sutter, ESQ. Managing Partner, Sugarman Law Firm LLP
Stephen Davoli, ESQ. Partner, Sugarman Law Firm LLP
Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Management Officer, Berkley Design Professional

Tuesday, March 22, 2022
10:00 am – 11:15 am Pacific Daylight Time
1.25 AIA Learning Units
1.25 RCEP Professional Development Hours
Health Safety and Welfare Qualified

Berkley DP policyholders who participate in this program can qualify for a 15% Risk Management Education credit. Contact your agent for further information*

This webinar has been recorded and is available on demand for Berkley Design Professional policyholders and our appointed agents and brokers on the BDP Risk® Learning Management System.

bdp Risk® lms login

Ethical behavior is integral to the practice of architecture and engineering, necessitated by the professional’s duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Making decisions and taking action can be complicated by ethical obligations imposed by multiple bodies: professional association codes of conduct, state practice acts, and licensing board requirements. Using professional association codes of conduct as a framework, this workshop offers a four-step process to make sound ethical decisions and explores real-life ethical cases to illustrate the challenges, dilemmas, and consequences of unethical behavior. In addition, participants will take away six key strategies to avoid ethical problems.

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Ask an Underwriter

Posted by & filed under Ask an Underwriter.

What are deductible credits?

A method of recompense that rewards our policyholders for successful risk management procedures and/or a good loss history with BDP by reducing their deductible. Multiple deductible credits are available and may reduce the policyholder’s deductible obligation up to 50% or a maximum of $50,000. This benefit should be considered when comparing deductible options from other carriers.

Got Uncertainty? We can help!

Posted by & filed under BDP Blog.

By Robert J. Connor, JD, CIC
Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company

February 10, 2022

Uncertainty is all around us. You can’t deny it. If there is anything the past two years have taught us it’s that you never know what’s coming around the corner. This is unnerving and can create anxiety. As human beings, we crave stability and structure – even when we think outside the box. At Berkley Design Professional, we not only acknowledge this uncertainty, we embrace it. We want to help you embrace it too so that together we can transform your uncertainty into opportunity. Doing so enables you and your clients to confidently build a better tomorrow.

This idea of transforming uncertainty, is our Why, our rallying cry and why we are passionate about serving our brokers and policyholders.

Our new vision statement states it more succinctly:

To transform uncertainty into opportunity so you can confidently build a better tomorrow.

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Berkley Design Professional’s BDP Risk® Learning Management System Wins Both Gold and Silver 2021 Brandon Hall Group Awards

Posted by & filed under News Releases.

Monterey, Calif. (December 15, 2021) – The BDP Risk® Learning Management System (LMS) from Berkley Design Professional (BDP), a division of Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company, has won the Brandon Hall Group Excellence Award for Learning for the third consecutive year. This year’s Silver Award within the “Best Advance in Custom Content” category reaffirmed Berkley Design Professional’s sustained results in helping design professionals improve their practices and mitigate professional liability claims.

In addition to this highly-coveted honor recognizing self-paced, custom-designed online courses related to workplace learning, the BDP Risk® LMS program also received the Brandon Hall Group 2021 Gold Award for “Best Advance in Creating an Extended Enterprise Learning Program.” The award acknowledges the organization’s successful efforts to attract and retain customers with specialized, impactful content.

“BDP Risk® is a state-of-the art risk management program and LMS platform that helps policyholders avoid professional liability claims, improve management practices, enhance business performance and qualify for premium rating credits,” said Diane P. Mika, vice president and director of risk management education at Berkley Design Professional. “As a result of these widely recognized and value-added benefits, usage of the LMS has helped us attract new clients, retain existing clients and decrease the frequency of claims.”

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Let’s Write More Express 24!

Posted by & filed under BDP Blog.

December 9, 2021

Next time your A&E client needs professional liability insurance, think about Express 24 from Berkley Design Professional!

What’s Express 24? For qualifying firms, Express 24 is a 24-month, guaranteed premium policy with an aggregate limit that spans both policy years.* Best of all, it offers design firms substantial limits at a discounted cost!

This makes Express 24 a great solution for any design firm looking to keep their professional liability insurance and lower their cost. In short, it’s comprehensive coverage at a cost savings!

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Now, how exactly does it work? Glad you asked! Let’s take a look at an example:

  • XYZ Architects has an Express 24 policy with limits of $1 million per claim / $3 million aggregate
  • This means they have $3 million dollars in limits to span the 24-month policy period! The maximum paid for each claim would be $1 million dollars. The total amount paid for all claims would be $3 million dollars.

To summarize, Express 24 offers an aggregate limit of no less than two times per claim. The aggregate limit spans the full 24 months. Higher policy limits at discounted prices!

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Rhonda Navarrete Joins Berkley Design Professional as an Assistant Vice President, Senior Underwriter

Posted by & filed under News Releases.

Monterey, Calif. (December 1, 2021) – Rhonda Navarrete joins Berkley Design Professional, a division of Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company as an assistant vice president, senior underwriter. She is responsible for underwriting primary and excess business within the retail Architects & Engineers insurance community, building strong broker relationships and achieving profitable growth for Berkley Design Professional’s architects & engineers professional liability portfolio.

“Rhonda’s extensive experience with the design community, professional liability lines and our network of specialty insurance brokers will serve us well,” says Lawrence G. Moonan, executive vice president at Berkley Design Professional. “Rhonda is a seasoned veteran who understands our culture and the urgency we have around serving the needs of our brokers and policyholders. She will be a welcome addition to our talented underwriting team.”

Ms. Navarrete joins Berkley Design Professional with more than 20 years of experience underwriting Architects & Engineers Professional Liability Insurance. She is a licensed insurance agent in the state of California and holds the designations of Registered Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU) and Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designations. Ms. Navarrete is based in California.

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Complimentary Webinar: Designing for Uncertainty: Resiliency, Climate Change, and Other 21st Century Perils

Posted by & filed under Events.

Presented by:
Dion N. Cominos, Esq., Firmwide Managing Partner, Gordon&Rees Scully Mansukhani
Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Management Officer, Berkley Design Professional

Thursday, December 9, 2021
10:00 am – 11:30 am Pacific Daylight Time
1.5 AIA Learning Units
1.5 RCEP Professional Development Hours
Health Safety and Welfare Qualified

Berkley DP policyholders who participate in this program can qualify for a 15% Risk Management Education credit. Contact your agent for further information*

This webinar has been recorded and is available on demand for Berkley Design Professional policyholders and our appointed agents and brokers on the BDP Risk® Learning Management System.

bdp Risk® lms login

In today’s complex design and construction environment, disputes will occur. Often the difference between success The practice of architecture and engineering in the 21st century can be forbidding. Today’s increasingly complicated and uncertain landscape includes climate change, aging infrastructure, pandemics, and a host of other manmade and natural phenomena. The importance of incorporating adaptation strategies and anticipating extreme weather events are just two areas that are shaping the standard of care for design professionals. Through instruction and actual case examples, this webinar offers valuable insights on applying the principles of resilient design for buildings that are able to withstand extreme weather and remain habitable, infrastructure that supports a sustainable ecosystem, and community design that manages stormwater and mitigates wildfire. Participants will learn strategies for facility planning, HVAC, and other design considerations in the post-Covid-19 built environment, and best practices for performing adjacent structure-design, structural condition assessments, and other inspections.

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Condo risks in focus as A&E market tightens

Posted by & filed under Published Articles.

By Michael Bradford | November 1, 2021

Rising losses are causing underwriters to rethink the way they analyze architects and engineers professional liability risks, and the deadly collapse of a condominium building in south Florida earlier this year is raising further concerns. 

Coverage prices have moved up gradually over the past three years as A&E professional liability losses have become more frequent and severe, sources say.

And while the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida, is not expected to immediately have a widespread impact on rates, it is bringing closer scrutiny to condo risks and could eventually lead to coverage restrictions, they say.

“The Surfside condo collapse will heighten awareness around the risks associated with this project type and will likely cause a further tightening for condo projects,” Lawrence Moonan, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Monterey, Calif.-based Berkley Design Professional, a unit of W.R. Berkley Corp., said in an email.

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