A/E Contract Established Time Limit for Suit

by Kent Holland | Feb 7, 2011 | Newsletter Article, time limits

To better manage and price the risks associated with design services, A/E’s often include language in their contracts with their clients establishing a specific limitation on how long a client can wait before filing suit against the A/E for damages arising out of the...

Copyright infringement by Reuse of Architect’s Plans

by Kent Holland | Feb 7, 2011 | Newsletter Article

Disputes over who has ownership and rights to use or reuse the architect’s plans are becoming more common. The AIA contract documents contain language granting the architect ownership and control of the documents. It seems, however, that more owners are amending that...

Contractor Criminally Indicted for Death of Workers

by Kent Holland | Feb 7, 2011 | Newsletter Article

When two workers that were trapped and drowned in a collapse trench, a general contractor and its president were indicted by a Grand Jury for manslaughter, negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. The facts as described by the court are these: The general...

A/E Relied on Owner to Test Old Tank before Incorporating into New Project: Potential Liability for Death Caused by Tank Rupture

by Kent Holland | Feb 7, 2011 | Newsletter Article

Risk to the project architect/engineer (A/E) can be caused when its client (the project owner) provides it insufficient, incomplete, or inaccurate information upon which it relies. Agreements between the A/E and its client should identify data and information to be...

Insurance Company Improperly Refused to Defend Additional Insured Under Contractor’s Policy

by Kent Holland | Feb 7, 2011 | Newsletter Article

An additional insured endorsement to an insurance policy entitled the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to a defense by the Contractor’s insurance company. St. Paul Insurance Company did not deny that it owed some coverage to TxDOT, but it refused to...

Sovereign Immunity Does Not Bar Contractor Claim for Contested Work

by Kent Holland | Feb 7, 2011 | Newsletter Article

A general contractor, under contract to the Brevard County School Board was required by the architect to install a more expensive fire protection system than it believed was called for by its contract. It argued that the architect misinterpreted the contract and thus...