2019 Risk Management Seminar – Denver
Our Denver seminar was yesterday and was a great success! Contracting for projects large and small. Barb Sable from RLI Insurance Company and Benton Barton with Hall & Evans, LLC both presented.
The topic of contracts is always a great review of what your firm is doing in its current practice, ways you can change your contract and key items to look out for when reviewing contract. Areas in the contract to be aware of include scope of services, standard of care, right to rely, suspension/termination the contract and indemnity that can cause issues down the road. These topics were reviewed in detail and the audience was quizzed on what are good and bad provisions in the contract.
Also, policy exclusions as they relate to the contract clauses were reviewed. Items such as express warranties and guarantees and contractual liability were reviewed and how they are excluded from Professional Liability policies.
It was discussed how it is important for not only the architect or engineer that negotiates the contract to understand the full details of the contract but for the project manager to understand the details of the contract as well. For example, scope of services, the firms doesn’t want the project manager going beyond the scope of services detailed in the contract or not providing all of the scopes of service either.
Limits of liability were reviewed in the presentation. The limits of liability typically do hold up except in cases that the limit of liability is not reasonable in relation to the project or the limit of liability is really low such as $2,500 in fees. Limits of liability are not enforceable on homeowner claims.
The seminar was three hours long and went into great detail of the topic of contracts. Be sure to keep an eye out for more upcoming seminars. If you do have questions please call or email your Professional Underwriters agent.