Retirement Planning for Design Professionals – Are Your Clients Covered for Professional Liability?

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By Barbara Block
Vice President, Supervising Underwriter
Berkley Design Professional, a Berkley Company

June 6, 2023

Retirement for a design professional doesn’t just happen, it takes careful planning and preparation. Having a transition plan, a buy-sell agreement, successor development and planning are all considerations, but one area retiring professionals may overlook is having adequate professional liability coverage.

Given the current climate of increasing litigation, simply relying on the design professional’s prior firm to maintain their professional liability insurance policy in addition to having necessary limits to protect their assets in retirement is not necessarily the best or safest option.

When it comes to professional liability coverage for architects and engineers, claims don’t just occur when the project is underway. Claims can arise years after the project is complete and if the design professional is no longer a named insured under their prior firms’ policy, problems can occur.

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Free Webinar: Real-Life Ethical Situations in Design and Construction

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Presented by:
Mike Bilderbeck, PE, FASHRAE, Principal Emeritus, Chief Mechanical/Fire Protection Engineer, Pickering Firm, Inc.
Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Management Officer, Berkley Design Professional
Jennifer Leach, PE, LEED AP, Associate, BR+A
Kristin L. Schaefer, P.E., PhD candidate, University of Houston, Schaefer Engineering 

Thursday, June 22, 2023
10:00 am – 11:30 am Pacific Time
1.5 AIA Learning Units
1.5 RCEP Professional Development Hours

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

Register Now

As construction projects, project delivery, and owner expectations become increasingly complex, it is more important than ever for design professionals to make proper decisions based on professional standards and codes of ethics. In this webinar, presented by a panel of experts, you will review the process of ethical decision-making and explore actual ethical situations and decisions rendered by review boards. 

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What’s in a Name?

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Why names matter on a professional liability insurance policy

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

December 8, 2022

Let me introduce myself. My name is Cindy Russell; well, my full name is Cynthia Russell. Maybe you need to know my maiden name was Ellis. Why does all this matter? Depends on what you need it for: looking up my records at the doctor’s office (Cynthia Russell), if I’m calling the financial company that has my IRA (Cynthia Ellis Russell) or social media (Cindy Russell), for example.

For architects and engineers, it matters for insurance coverage, contract considerations and the name by which the public knows them.

A design professional liability insurance policy (and likely other types of policies) provides coverage for a specific firm name or names. If a claim is made against a firm name that’s not included on the insurance policy, coverage may not be provided for that claim.

Sometimes even a small difference has a big effect. For example, John and Julie’s Architectural Group is a Named Insured on a policy but it also uses the legal name of J&J Architectural Group in certain markets or maybe it used that name previously but changed it a couple of years ago. A claim is made against J&J Architectural Group and that claim is based on a project it took on under this alternate name or the prior name. However, this additional name wasn’t provided to the insurance broker (or the insurance company underwriter) so it’s not a Named Insured on the professional liability policy and because of this it may not have coverage for the claim.

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Complimentary Webinar: Ethics for Engineers, Architects, and Other Design Professionals

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

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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

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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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Complimentary Webinar: A Design Professional’s Guide to Dispute Resolution

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Presented by:
Ted D. Levin, Member, Clark Hill, LLP
Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Management Officer, Berkley Design Professional

Wednesday, September 29, 2021
10:00 am – 11:30 am Pacific Daylight Time
1.5 AIA Learning Units
1.5 RCEP Professional Development Hours
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 and failure is whether you have planned for the inevitable. This webinar will show you the root causes that frequently lead to disputes and arm you with strategies to mitigate those situations before the project even begins. You’ll learn why it’s important to define the dispute resolution process in your contract—and receive sample contract language you can begin using right away. You’ll gain insight from a typical dispute resolution flowchart and a deeper understanding of the mechanics, costs, pros, and cons of these common methods: step negotiations, mediation, litigation, and arbitration. Finally, you’ll learn how to identify when trouble is brewing on your project and get a roadmap of what to do next.

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Public-private partnerships and the design firm

Posted by & filed under BDP Blog, Published Articles.

By Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, Chief Risk Management Officer, Berkley Design Professional

April 11, 2019

Adapted from an article authored by Suzanne H. Harness, J.D., AIA for Berkley Design Professional

Recognizing that traditional public funding will not always be available, governmental agencies are using innovative public-private partnership (P3) models to incentivize their private-sector partners to deliver much needed local projects. For many engineers, P3 is already a familiar method of project delivery for infrastructure such as roads, bridges, tunnels, and transit. Architects are now finding that local communities are also considering P3 for other types of building projects, including athletic facilities, museums, convention centers, parking garages, courthouses, libraries, and affordable housing.

Simply stated, a P3 exists when a public entity retains a private entity to finance, design, and build a project that will deliver a benefit to the public. Often, the P3 consortium will be responsible for maintenance and operations over an extended period of time, up to 30 years. One thing is certain: private entities—and their investors and lenders—will only support P3 projects when they have confidence that the revenue stream will deliver an acceptable return on investment. The developer is then under tremendous pressure to deliver the promised financial return to investors.

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Andrew Mendelson of Berkley Design Professional to Address BIM Issues and Best Practices at American Council of Engineering Companies 2019 Annual Convention

Posted by & filed under BDP Blog, Featured, News Releases.

Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA (April 15, 2019) – Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA, senior vice president, chief risk management officer at Berkley Design Professional, a division of Berkley Alliance Managers, a Berkley Company, will address Building Information Modeling (BIM) issues and best practices at the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) 2019 Annual Convention & Legislative Summit to be held May 5 – 8, at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C.

“When used properly, BIM can improve a design firm’s productivity, quality and project team relationships, as well as increase operational efficiencies from project inception through post-construction facility management,” says Mendelson. “However, users must be aware of the potential legal implications and professional liability risks emanating from unintended use of this emerging technology.”

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