By Diane Mika
Senior Vice President, Risk Management Officer
Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company
March 20, 2024
The construction phase is when your design comes to life. It’s also where most claims rise to the surface. When you provide construction administration (CA) services, you are able to observe whether construction is progressing in general conformance with the Construction Documents, assist your client to identify and resolve problems and respond to requests for information (RFIs) to clarify your design intent. Construction phase services are essential to managing your professional liability risk—and your client’s overall project risk.
We frequently see projects where clients want to eliminate the design professional’s construction phase services in a misguided attempt to save money. In this situation, you need to help your client understand that CA services are to their benefit and the overall success of the project—and, in fact, that these duties are an important part of a design professional’s normal standard of care.
The Risks of Not Providing CA Phase Service
If you are not involved in CA, you won’t be available or able to address issues that arise on the project including site observation, interpretation of the construction documents, addressing legitimate RFIs, processing submittals, certifying pay requests and issuing Certificates of Substantial Completion. What’s more, contractors are typically dependent on the design professional for these activities, which are critical for the proper execution of the project during construction. The big question for your client is: How will the project be accomplished without you, as the design professional, providing these services?
