F - Practice Conduct & Office Mgmt Flashcards
What are the types of practice?
Sole practitioner
Partnership
LLC
Joint Venture
What is PI Insurance?
Protects against claims for breach of professional duty or negligence resulting in financial loss.
Purchased annually
Where can you buy PI Insurance?
Join the NZ Architects Cooperative Society (NZACS) then can buy from Acanthus insurance group
How long are contractural and negligence liability periods?
6 and 10 years
What does the H&SaW Act 2015 mean?
A PCBU is defined as the primary duty holder to ensure safety in the workplace.
As designers PCBUs must take “all practicable” steps not to create risks for those who construct, use, maintain or demolish a workplace or structure.
What is a PCBU?
An individual or company responsible for the health & safety of its officers and workers.
What is public liability insurance?
Protects against claims from third parties for injury or property damage suffered due to your business’s actions.
What is tort law?
A tort arises when one party breaches their obligations or duty of care to another party resulting in that party experiencing damages.
What is statutory insurance?
Covers for unintentional breaches of statutory law. Registered Architects Act, H&S Act etc.
What is the Architects Act 2005?
Sets out legal responsibilities of Registered architects.
Establishes procedural requirements must be in place.
Protects the term ‘Architect’
What is the Architects Rules 2006?
Registered Architects are bound to these rules including the code of ethics.
Describes minimum standards for Registered Architects
Why would you consider a LLC?
OPEN ANSWER
What is the Employment Relations Act 2000?
establishes obligations of employers and employees in their contractual relationship. It contains minimum standards relating to pay, conditions and termination, and
indicates procedures for grievances and strikes.
Is a business or its directors a PCBU?
(WIP) Business, Directors are officers.
An officer is a person who holds senior leadership and has the ability to significantly influence the management of a PCBU. An officer of a PCBU must exercise due diligence to ensure that the PCBU complies with its duties
How does the contractual limitations act 1950 relate?
Repealed by 2010 Act
Limitation laws prevent certain legal claims being brought against a person or company after a defined period of time.
What is the contractual mistakes act 1977?
NOTE THIS ACT HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED
to mitigate the arbitrary effects of mistakes on contracts by conferring on courts appropriate powers to grant relief in the circumstances mentioned
How does the privacy act 1993 relate to practice of architecture?
promote and protect individual privacy, and in particular to establish principles on:
collection, use, and disclosure of information relating to individuals; and
access by individuals to information held about them.
The Act covers both the public and private sectors.
Outline the Copyright Act 1994?
gives copyright owners the exclusive right to …
Client is the owner
Note that the AAS contains standard conditions that supersede this act and maintain copyright with the architect while granting a one off licence for the purpose of construction & maintaining the structure.
Outline the limitations act 2010?
Limitation laws prevent certain legal claims being brought against a person or company after a defined period of time. They provide a defence against old claims and give certainty in relation to legal liability for past events.
Repeals 1950 Act
Note the Building Act as a 10yr limitation rather than 6yrs in this act.
How would you best monitor client satisfaction?
OPEN ANSWER
What is ethical practice?
Exercising unprejudiced & unbiased judgement
Conducting professional work with due care & diligence
Pursue professional activities with honesty & fairness
What penalties may be imposed if the complaint is upheld?
a. fines up to 10K
b. require supervision or training
c. suspension architects registration
How might one assess risks?
By creating a risk matrix including what the risks might be, their likelihood of occurring, the
cost if things should go wrong, and how these might be proactively managed, avoided,
transferred or insured against.
How can practices and directors gain a degree financial protection themselves?
- trusts
- limit liability through incorporation of practice owning and operating entities
- set up separate asset owning and operational entities
What is the minimum amount for PI Insurance?
$250K
What is a loss leader?
A loss leader is a product or service that is offered at a price that is not profitable, but it is sold to attract new customers or to sell additional products and services to those customers. Loss leading is a common practice when a business first enters a market.
What is the difference between Negligence and Gross Negligence?
Negligence = failure to use the level of care and caution that an ordinary person would use in similar circumstances ie. careless mistake or inattention that causes an injury.
Gross negligence = deliberate and reckless disregard for the safety and reasonable treatment of others.
In both cases must directly cause harm to another person, another person’s property, or both.
What is working capital?
A financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organisation or other entity, including governmental entities. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is considered a part of operating capital.
Why might you need Statutory Insurance?
For claims against you using the code of ethics
Should separate consultants have the same PI and liability as us?
(WIP) Yes we need them to have comparable levels. SPA have this in the AAS.
When does the liability period begin for Architects?
(WIP) Murky area of law and goalposts move
Why might you use lump sum or cashflow invoicing?
Works well for contract observation.
Cashflow option is normally client driven
For a small business cashflow upfront is helpful
What are some pros & cons of competitions?
Limited/no design interaction with the client and usergroup.
Often changes substantially after commission awarded.
Ignores the complexity of the process.
IP is given away
What should you do if an employee with particular skills leaves the office and was the reason you won a commission?
Ethics - tell client if they were central to the selection.
Sometimes contracts have key person bonds (eg 50K)
What is companion cover?
Companion Cover complements the Professional Indemnity Insurance offering and fills more of those risk gaps that may arise from your business activities:
- General Public Liability Insurance
- Statutory Liability Insurance
- Directors and Officer Liability Insurance
- Employers Liability Insurance
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance
- Cyber Liability Insurance
What is a Form 1 CCA claim?
Information that must accompany all payment claims - text page. What this is? What should I do? When? What if I dont act? Disagree? Delay?
What is tort limitation period?
6 years but unlear in law.
Illness may be longer.
What is vicarious liability?
Employer responsible for employee.
Vicarious liability refers to a situation where someone is held responsible for the actions or omissions of another person. In a workplace context, an employer can be liable for the acts or omissions of its employees, provided it can be shown that they took place in the course of their employment.
To what extent would damages be rectified under contract vs under tort?
Contract Breach = back to same position as before breach
Tort = All losses suffered including consequential, emotional distress and exemplary charges (fines = gross negligence)
