Practice Management Flashcards
(34 cards)
What are the levels of a corporation?
Stakeholders
directors
Officers
AIA B101 requires which insurances? And for what?
1 - General liability- covers the office space.
2 - professional liability - covers errors and omissions.
3 - Workers’ Compensation Insurance- covers employee injuries or illness - medical care and lost wages.
4 - automobile liability - covers company vehicles and personal cars used for business purposes
5 - Employer’s Liability - Covers employers if they get sued for causing a workplace injury - settlements, court costs, legal fees
Standard of care
Expected quality of service for architect by area. The standard of care often decides whether architect is at fault when Architect made an error or omission
Format types for specifications
Master format: classifies by material: concrete, masonry, metals, etc. (older formate, more commonly used)
Uniformat: classified by system: substructure, shell interiors, etc. (Newer format, better for BIM)
Employment Practice liability insurance
Intellectual property insurance
Employment Practice liability insurance = insurance to protect from wrongful termination
Intellectual property insurance = insurance to cover claims based on copyright / intellectual property infringement
The owner is responsible for…
-Pre-existing site conditions (geological, hazardous materials, surveying)
- paying contractor
- paying over’s consultants
- charge orders
- with or without cause hiring and firing of Architect
Aggregate limit, premium, deductible, claim
Aggregate limit- total coverage amount
Premium-monthly/yearly bill
Deductible- maximum paid by you, prior to coverage kicking in and paying
Claim - you think you experienced a covered event and demand payment from the insurance company
Tail insurance
Covers the architect’s projects and the architect’s retirement
The insurance is liability y insurance for the projects the architect has alreavely done prior to retirement which are still within the relevant statues of limitations /repose - so that should there be a problem resulting in a lawsuit, the retired architect is still covered. Tail insurance is much cheaper than the insurance carried by a professional, practicing architect, because the risks are more defined and limited for the insurer - since the architect has retired, no new projects will be being built, and all of the projects that need to be covered by the tail insurance are known.
What is the process to file an ethical complaint against an architect?
1 - file the complaint through AIA National (National Ethics Council) within a year of the alleged violation (can be longer if there’s a good cause for delay)
2 - Advisory board and chair will be chosen
3 - Pre-hearing, hearing, start, claim, defense, end, judgement *
*Confidential, no counter-claims, can’t fine or enforce behavior, but can admonish/suspend
Who are the most common ethics complainants
Other architects
Homeowners
Does the architect have a fiduciary duty to the client: a legal obligation to act in the owner’s best financial interest?
No, architects do not serve as an owner’s fiduciary.
Fiduciary duty: the obligation a professional has to act in the best interests of their client
Generally, the term is used for professions who protect the financich interest of the people they represent.
Certified financial planners (CFPs) can’t recommend a particular investment of they do so because of CFP gets a higher commission from the brokerage if that particular investment is purchased; lawyers or accountants can’t advise their client to more forward with a deal because the lawyer or accountant owns the property being sold; and a corporate director can’t steer the company to sign a worse deal because the person on the other side ofthe deal is her brother-in-law. (Of course, if the brother -in-law really has the bust corporate travel agency and charges the company the lowest fees, it is probably not a breach of fiduciary duty.)
Why isn’t an architect held to a fiduciary standard? Perhaps because me protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.
Retainer
Retainer: regular service for a fixed fee, more efficient than hourly over the long term . . . like if a university is regularly updating rooms as small projects (adding A/V equipment, accessibility ramps, upgrading outdated bathrooms) Th university might hire an architect on retainer. The architect them can bill the university for the work immpleted, without having to create a new contract for each door that i replaced.
Are architects agents of the owner?
The agent creates a legally bonding relationship between third party and principal, for instance in a CM as Agent project, the principal is the client and the Contractor is the third party.
Architects are NOT agents of the owner ( unless the owner would like term to be and a formal agreement is drawn up). That means, the architect can’t, while walking the site, claim to speak for the owner when talking to the contractor.
Who contracts directly under the Architect and who contracts under the Owner?
Architect: MEP, Lighting Consultant, Civil Engineer, (utilities, land contouring, and all things related to the improvement to the land with the new building), Landscape Architect/Engineer, Cost Estimator, Code Consultant
Owner: Zoning, Traffic, Site, Geotechnical (underground), Surveyor,Civil Engineer (for duties related to permitting, and documenting the existing condition of the site) ‘
The Architect is responsible for. . .
- the project being on tome and on budget
- the instruments of service
- the standard of care and protecting the health, safety, and wellness of the public
- coordination and administration of project team and processes
- enforcement of contract terms (as able)
- adherence to applicable codes
NOT means and methods of construction, existing site conditions, safety on the job site, anything outside the contract (additional services)
Fair labor standards act
Davis bacon act
Fair labor standards act: regulates minimum wage, overtime pay, and child labor.
Davis Bacon Act: contractors working on federal construction projects must pay workers no less than the locally prevailing wages.
General liability insurance
Covers the physical property of the firm, usually has a limit to total claims
*landlords can require
Professional liability insurance
Covers the cost of mistakes made by the Architect, a well as disciplinary, regulatory, and administrative expenses (e.g. if OSHA is violated in the Architect’s office)
*Also called “errors and omissions” insurance
Mechanic’s lien
Mechanic’s lien: A claim placed against owner’s property due to unpaid debts. Used when the contractor fails to pay sub-contractors but can also be used when the owner desks not pay the Architect. The land and building can be sold to settle the debts if the owner can’t pay cash.
If the owner owes money to the contractor, or the owner owes money to the architect, the owner can’t or won’t pay her debts, a court can order the property to be sold to raise the cash to pay the debts. But the property can also be used to make unpaid subcontractors whole. If the contractor owes money to the subcontractors, and the contractor skips town, the subs on go after the owner. If the owner can’t pay, a ”Lien” is put on the project and a court can force the owner to sell to square up with the subs. This is one of the reasons that the owner confirms that the contractor pays their subs throughout the process… the owner doesn’t want to be on the hook later for the contractor’s unpaid bills.
OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA):
Enforces workplaces safety regulations for things like construction falls, exposure to dangerous construction solvents, potentially elengeroos power tools, and requirements for neon safety vests, glasses,& hardhats on site. OSHA considers office workplaces, like architects’ offices, to be low-hazard but requires reporting of workplace deaths or multiple simultaneous workplace hospitalizations, even in offices.
The contractor is responsible for…
“Pefection” in construction
-Nothing outside the contract
-Paying and coordinating sub-contractors
-Providing owner with operational manuals
- some design of specific systems (delegated design) for things like curtain wall details, concrete formwork, and steel fabricator shop drawings.
Common types of small business taxes
Federal l and state income tax
Self-employment tax
Personal property tax
Post-occupancy evaluation
Post-occupancy evaluation:
Surveys used to see now well a building is performing, usually administered at least a year after occupancy.
* very important! Employees are the major expense for Amy business, so knowing now design affects their performance is key.
Contractual liability insured
Contractual liability insurance: covers you when something goes wrong and you, by virtue of a contract you signed, are held responsible for it
Contractual liability coverage typically is included in your genera liability insurance (the one that covers your business for non-professional incidents, like a slip-and-fall or dog bite at the office).
Architects sign many kinds of contracts in the course of day-to-day business: leases, purchase orders, agreements to engage an accountant, etc. (professional liability protection from errors and omissions claims falls in a separate category of insurance). Contractual liability insurance covers you when one of the signed contracts puts the burden of a problem on the architect.
For example, Lauren, and employee of your firm, tours a quarry with a client to slick stone for an office building courtyard. In order to tour the quarry, Lauren signed a common release form, the type you sign all the time, indemnifying the quarry should something go wrong. Something did go wrong on the tour and Lauren was injured. Because she signed the release form holding the quarry harmless, your firm, rather than the responsibility of the quarry, is held responsible. And because you have contractual liability insurance as part of your general liability insurance policy, your coverage for Lauren’s injury.
