It is important for Design Professionals to have contacts on all projects. Here are a few items with regards to contacts to keep in mind:
-Read the contract and know what your firm is getting into. It is important to know what your firm is agreeing to and making sure you are not in breach of contract.
-Contract review – Have your attorney review the contract for any legal issues that may be associated with the contract. They may need to make some changes and negotiate on your behalf to ensure it is a contract that makes sense for both parties.
-Insurability contract review – many carriers will provide a contract review for insurability. This means that the carrier is verifying that the contract you are signing will be covered under your policy. There are some provisions or wording in contracts that may not be covered by a Professional Liability policy.
-Professional Association Contracts – some associations, such as AIA or ACEC provide standard contracts that can be used by your firm. These contracts are beneficial to small firms because they are cost effective.
-Sub consultants – Not only should your firm have contracts with your clients but be sure you have contracts with your sub consultants. This is an area that tends to get overlooked but it important so there is a mutual understanding of what is expecting on the project.
As always if you ever have any questions your PUI Agent is here to help you out. Also it is very important that you refer to your attorney on contract issues, you want to make sure the contract makes sense for your firm, your client, within your insurance guidelines and within the jurisdiction your firm is providing services.