8 Steps to Successful Subconsultant Relationships

Transcription

1 8 Steps to Successful Subconsultant Relationships The expertise of a wide range of specialists may be needed to provide design and consulting services on a project. While sometimes these professionals contract directly with the project owner, more typically they are employed as subconsultants by the prime consultant. Being a prime design consultant on a project has its benefits, including having control over and leverage with the subconsultants, but it also comes with significant risk: A large percentage of claims made against prime consultants is caused by the actions of their subconsultants. Prime consultants are liable not only for their own services and those performed by their own employees but also for any services performed by any subconsultants they retain. Vicarious liability is the legal responsibility of one party for the acts of another party. Under this concept, if acts by your subconsultant cause damage and are found to be negligent, you as prime may be held responsible, just as if you had committed the negligent act yourself. In terms of liability, that means you re only as good as your least able, most vulnerable subconsultant this includes the landscape planner you hired as a favor. Prime consultants are liable not only for their own services but also for any services performed by any subconsultants they retain. Given the risks and responsibilities, it s surprising that many prime consultants retain subconsultants without a thorough vetting process. In addition, many primes fail to have a written contract with their subs, or only use a brief letter agreement or the subconsultant s proposal. But consider this: If you retain a mechanical engineer as a subconsultant without benefit of an adequate contract, and errors by that engineer result in a claim, the owner will make a claim against you as the direct point of contractual responsibility. If you have no contract with the engineer, or if the contract with the engineer is inadequate or ambiguous, you could end up paying for the client s entire loss. What s more, primes often neglect to require insurance or adequate insurance of their subs. If your subconsultant s negligence caused your client damages, and the sub had too little insurance or no insurance at all, or if the sub s policy limits had been consumed by other claims, your own deductible and policy limits would be at risk. Finally, primes (and subs) often fail to proactively manage the potential problems that can arise in a prime-subconsultant relationship. Attorney David A. Ericksen, * of Severson & Werson, urges design professionals to take a disciplined approach to the design-team relationship. Ericksen recommends that primes identify potential pitfalls in advance and as they proceed issues such as scope gaps and overlaps, disagreements about additional services, and conditions of fee payment and claim response and manage them strategically and comprehensively for better working relationships and better projects. 1

2 A Comprehensive Solution There are steps you can take to address each of these issues. What s needed is a thoughtful, comprehensive approach. You can select qualified subs, for a start. You can encourage a cooperative approach that acknowledges that everyone on the design team depends on and must rely on each other. You can develop fair agreements with unambiguous terms and clear scopes of services. You can establish procedures to strengthen planning and design coordination. You can implement project team communication and documentation protocols. You can actively monitor the performance of your subs and watch for warning signs of trouble. Finally, you can assess the performance of your subconsultants after each project and use this information in the selection process for future projects. We recommend the following 8 steps: 1. Establish a rigorous subconsultant selection process 2. Bring your subconsultants in early 3. Negotiate well-drafted, coordinated contracts 4. Insist on and verify appropriate and adequate insurance 5. Institute a proactive approach to project planning and design coordination 6. Implement communication and documentation protocols 7. Watch for signs of trouble 8. Conduct post-project assessments of your subconsultants Step 1: Establish a Rigorous Subconsultant Selection Process Perhaps the most important step is the first: a thorough and careful selection of your subconsultants. Attorney David Ericksen recommends a strategic selection of projects, clients and teams (which include subconsultants and third-party consultants) so that the design team has the necessary skills and experience to meet the needs of the client and project, and can deliver services efficiently and collaboratively. As too many primes have learned, choosing the wrong subconsultants can result in project delays, lower profits, disputes, and claims. The solution is to establish a meticulous subconsultant evaluation system, if you don t already have one in place. We recommend that you create a Subconsultant Review Team with the objective of building a catalog of experienced consultants with whom your firm can develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. The Review Team will evaluate prospective subs as well as subs with whom you have worked in the past. Working with checklists, the Review Team should evaluate potential subconsultants, weighing several factors. To begin, you ll want to verify technical qualifications. For subconsultants you haven t worked with before, ask for a list of references from other firms that have used their services and contact those references. Ask your staff, too, as others in your firm may have worked with a particular subconsultant. Find out how they conduct their business. Are they financially viable and will they be around for the next several years? Do they pay their bills? What is their reputation? You ll want to know about the staff s capabilities, as well as internal management structure and quality control procedures. Do they have a history of claims and litigation? Perhaps the most important consideration is also the hardest to quantify: Do you have a good working relationship with the prospective sub? Is their approach to risk management similar to yours? Do they provide 2

3 strong project and quality management? Do they proactively coordinate their services and documents with yours? What is their process for preparing alternatives and recommendations? Are they definitive in decisionmaking? Do they share your view of business ethics and client service? Don t overlook the importance of factors that are not easily quantifiable. Ericksen says that a strong sense of common culture and trust can mean the difference between a team that is working to resolve an issue collectively and the disaster of every firm for itself. You ll want to know that if there s a problem, the subconsultant will step up, evaluate, and respond with regard to their professional actions, particularly during the construction administration phase. Prompt and thorough response to a problem based on a relationship of cooperation and collaboration amongst the design team can turn a potentially bad situation into one that is readily resolved or at least more manageable. Once you have established a list of prequalified subconsultants, you ll still need to evaluate candidates in light of specific projects. Even if you have a longstanding relationship with a subconsultant firm, it may not be right for a given project. Does the firm have the experience, skills and qualifications necessary for this project type? Does the sub have the staffing capacity for this project? Are the people with those skills available, or are they involved with other projects? Who will be assigned to lead the project and will that person remain on the project for its duration? Is there digital compatibility (especially Building Information Modeling BIM) among team members? Do they have the necessary licenses for the location of the project? Are they familiar with applicable codes, including energy codes and sustainability requirements? Finally, we recommend that you periodically review your prequalified subconsultant list to monitor the ongoing performance of subconsultants as well as any changes in leadership, management, personnel, financial stability, and business practices. Step 2: Bring Your Subconsultants in Early Subconsultants should be brought in early in the project or even before the project begins in order to become familiar with the owner s project requirements and expectations. Their expertise will contribute to critical planning and design decisions made in the early stages of the project including analysis of and input to the owner s program and objectives and assistance in modifying unrealistic expectations. Early engagement promotes commitment to the project and encourages a spirit of collaboration amongst the project team. In addition, the sub will be in the position to commit to staff, services, scope, schedule, and fee before you memorialize your commitments to the owner. 3

4 Step 3: Negotiate Well-drafted, Coordinated Contracts Your subconsultant contracts are just as important as the prime agreements with your client. Negotiating a clear and fair agreement is the best way to make sure that both parties understand the allocation of risk, as well as their roles, responsibilities and rights. Your contracts with your subconsultants must be consistent and coordinated with the prime agreement and other professional services agreements on the project. In order to avoid discrepancies between the prime contract and subcontracts, use standard form agreements of coordinated design and construction documents, such as those published by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC). These forms are carefully integrated, cross-referenced, and coordinated with other agreements that will be used on a project. (Bear in mind, however, that professional association standard documents require review and modification to reflect each particular project and jurisdiction. Revisions must be made with care, and with the advice of your attorney and insurance agent or broker.) If your client uses a non-standard agreement, you and your attorney should make certain your subconsulting agreements fit with others in the project and that the terms are consistent. (For example, you do not want to give a subconsultant a waiver of consequential damages if you don t have that clause in the prime agreement.) In any case, don t start work without a signed, written contract or interim agreement for services, even if you have a longstanding relationship with the sub. If you work with certain subconsultants on a regular basis (another good reason to establish long-term alliances with a short list of quality subs), consider negotiating continuing services (or master) agreements, which contain terms and conditions acceptable to both parties. You can establish scope, fee, and schedule in a separate task order for each project. It s also a bad idea to use the sub s proposal as a contract. Proposals rarely define roles and responsibilities adequately, and often contain inappropriate and inconsistent terms and conditions. If the proposal is to be appended to the subconsultant agreement as an exhibit to further define the sub s scope of services, be sure to delete all terms and conditions and other provisions that don t conform to the terms and conditions of the prime agreement. Expressly require only the contracting standards and terms that your firm has established. Here are some approaches you and your attorney might incorporate into your subconsulting agreements. Note that if you modify any of the standard professional documents, such as those from the AIA or EJCDC, you ll need to confirm that the modifications are reflected consistently throughout the documents. (Please get competent legal advice.) Pass Through. In general, you should pass downstream to each of your subconsultants the same legal rights and obligations you have with the owner in the prime agreement for each sub s design discipline. Subs need to adhere to the same (or greater) rules you establish with your client. This can be accomplished with an unambiguous flow-down, or pass-through, provision, which binds the sub to the provisions of the prime agreement, and is consistent with the terms and conditions to which you are subject. The AIA C Standard Form of Agreement Between Architect and Consultant provides for flow-down consistent with the ownerarchitect agreement, but some prime consultants may require enhanced duties of their subconsultants. 4

5 If you create a custom form subconsultant agreement, be sure that the terms are consistent with those in your prime contract and that any obligation or risk you have undertaken is appropriately allocated or transferred to any subs you ve retained. For related information, see Key Clauses of a Consulting Agreement: Design Professional to Design Professional. Scope of Services. Make sure the subconsultant s scope of service is clear and unambiguous. The subconsultant agreement should define the services that the subconsultant will perform for the basic fee, the services it will not perform, and those the sub can provide as supplemental or additional services. You ll also need to define the process to request and approve additional services; the authorization should always be in writing with appropriate limitations on payment obligations. In addition, be very clear as to the subconsultant s responsibility for site visits during construction for general observation and to respond to RFIs specific to their discipline. Schedule. Require the subconsultant to submit a schedule for its services and deliverables that is consistent with the requirements of your agreement with the owner, and provide for adjustment as the project moves forward. The sub s schedule should allow reasonable time for you and other consultants to review, coordinate, and respond to its submittals. Responsibility for Design Coordination. Require all consultants, including outside consultants, to coordinate their own work, to coordinate with other consultants, and to be solely responsible for the technical content and coordination of their documents. Right to Rely. You ll want the right to rely on the accuracy and completeness of services and information furnished by the subconsultant, and agree to give the sub prompt written notice if either of you becomes aware of any errors, omissions, or inconsistencies in such services or information. (It s critical to have a similar clause in your contract with the owner that gives you the right to rely on information provided by the owner, owner s consultants, or others as well as existing or public records.) Billing and Payment. Billing and payment issues are major sources of disputes. Be sure to discuss these beforehand and address them in detail in your agreement. Primes typically ask the subconsultant to accept a pay-when-paid or pay-if-paid provision (in other words, payment by the client to you as prime is a condition precedent to payment to the subconsultant). Your agreement should define the payment schedule and billing cycles (ideally coordinated with the client s), invoice approval and payment process, due dates, and interest and penalties in the event of late payment. What is the subconsultant s recourse in the event of nonpayment? How will you handle disputes over a subconsultant s fees? (Check with your attorney regarding the statutory requirements of the jurisdiction in which you practice and of the project.) Dispute Resolution. Dispute resolution terms must also be coordinated with the prime agreement. This is critical. Let s say, for example, that your agreement with the owner calls for You need to have confidence that if you re drawn into a claim, the entire design team will work as a unit to defend it. mandatory arbitration but your agreement with a subconsultant civil engineer specifies litigation or is silent on the subject. If a claim arises related to the civil s design, the civil could refuse to participate in any arbitration with the client and you d be left to defend the matter in arbitration on your own. Make sure there is a means to join the consultant in any action with the client, if necessary. You need to have confidence that if you re drawn into a claim, the entire design team will work as a unit to defend it. Your subconsultant agreement should state that if there is a claim involving the services of one of the parties, the party will assume responsibility. 5

6 David Ericksen suggests the following language: Claim Response/Cooperation In the event of any claim, allegation or demand by Client, Owner, Contractor, or any other third party involving the scope of work or responsibilities of either Party, such Party shall promptly assume responsibility for the investigation, defense, and response to such issues for the benefit of both Parties. Finally, your agreement should spell out how you will resolve disputes within the design team itself. Although you never want to be in a position where you have to terminate a subconsultant, the conditions of termination should be defined in the agreement. As prime, you certainly don t want your subconsultants to be able to terminate the subconsultant agreement at their convenience, as you may not be able to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of your prime agreement. Limitation of Liability (LoL). Never give an LoL to your subconsultant without one in the prime agreement with your client as this could create an exposure and insurance coverage problem. If there s a $5 million claim arising from the negligence of your sub, for example, but the sub was only obligated to pay $500,000 because of an LoL in its agreement with you, you d be responsible for the balance because you didn t have a similar LoL in your client agreement. That amount may not be covered by your insurance because it was an obligation you assumed by contract. Indemnities should be mutual and based on comparative fault. In other words, you and the subconsultant should agree that each party will reimburse the other party to the extent that each party is responsible for such damages, liabilities, or costs to the extent caused by such party s negligent errors, omissions, or breach of the agreement. Time Limit for Legal Action should be consistent with the prime agreement with the owner. Here again, you don t want to give the owner five years to file a claim against you if you turn around and give the subconsultant three. Be aware, too, that if the owner is a public agency (which may or may not be subject to statutes of repose or limitation), agreements must be carefully coordinated so that you can join a responsible subconsultant in litigation by the owner/public entity. Ownership of Instruments of Service. Who will retain copyright and ownership of the subconsultant s plans and specifications is a matter of negotiation between you and the sub and should be in alignment with the requirements of the prime agreement. The sub might retain ownership and grant to you a license in the same manner as you may have granted a license to the owner. Alternatively, the sub could transfer ownership to you. In any case, you ll want to agree to not make changes to each other s documents without written permission of the other party. Confidentiality Requirements/Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) should be consistent with the owner-prime agreement. Owners have become increasingly protective regarding access to their confidential and proprietary information and may require in their contracts protection by their consultants. This includes third-party information that you as prime may have access to. Make sure that any restrictions or indemnities related to confidentiality or non-disclosure in your agreement with the owner are passed down to the subconsultant. At the same time, your client agreement should give you the right to share with your subs confidential information, as needed, so that they can do their jobs. continued on page 9 6

7 If You re a Subconsultant: 10 Suggestions 1. Select prime consultants with care. When you contract with a prime consultant, that firm becomes your client. And just as primes should prudently select their clients and projects, you also need to answer some key questions about a prospective prime consultant: What is the prime s reputation for providing high quality design and technical expertise? Is the prime known for fair treatment of its consultants? Does the prime have the necessary technical qualifications, staff resources and leadership? Is the prime financially stable? Does the firm pay its bills on time? Does the prime have a good relationship with the client? Does the prime communicate openly and frequently? Develop long-term relationships with solid, reputable prime consultants with whom you work well. 2. Find out as much as you can about the project and the owner. Your contract may be with the prime, but it s critical for you to understand key factors that will likely impact you and your ability to be successful on the project: Does the owner have experience with this type of project? Are the owner s project requirements, goals and expectations realistic and clearly defined? Does the owner develop quality projects? Is the owner financial viable? How is the project being funded? Does the owner have a reputation for being litigious? Who is the contractor? (Or how will the contractor be selected?) Given what you know about the project: Do you have experience and sufficient expertise with the project type and delivery method? Do you have qualified staff available for the project? 3. Negotiate a clear scope of services. Define those services that you will perform for the basic fee, those you may provide as supplemental or additional services, and those you will not perform. (If the service is necessary for the project, who will provide it?). As you and the prime determine the appropriate scope of services, pay particular attention to potential gaps or overlaps in scope and define the process for authorization of additional services. 4. Agree on billing and payment terms. When should you invoice and how soon can you expect to be paid? Will the prime require a pay-when-paid or even a pay-if-paid arrangement? What happens if the project is delayed? What is your recourse if the prime doesn t pay you on time or at all? 5. Review the related agreements. Obtain and review other contract documents referenced by your subconsulting agreement the owner-prime agreement in particular. The terms should be unambiguous and consistent with your contract with the prime and not pass on to you any risks or responsibilities that rightfully should be the prime s. 7

8 6. Plan for coordination early in the project. If You re a Subconsultant: 10 Suggestions (continued) Participate in project planning for the overall design team. Identify what information you will need to receive and rely upon from other parties including the prime, the prime s consultants, the owner, or the owner s consultants. It s important to understand how, when, and in what format that information will be provided. Work with the prime and other design team members to develop a plan to recognize conflicts or gaps and to verify that every issue has been resolved. 7. Communicate and document. Engage in ongoing communication with the prime and other project team members, as appropriate, and seek and give continuous feedback. Have a plan to memorialize in writing anything that pertains to the quality, schedule, or cost of a project and to retain those records. 8. Be a team player. Cultivate good relationships with the prime and other design team members, and foster a collaborative, problem-solving approach to the common goal of a successful project. 9. Lean into problems. If you run into trouble, if you re going to be late with a deliverable, or if you become aware of an issue on the project, advise the prime as soon as possible (and your insurer, if the situation could evolve into a claim), so you can work together to resolve it. If a problem related to your services becomes a dispute, vow to actively participate in the defense of your professional actions. If you stand with the prime in tough times, the more likely the prime will want to work with you again. 10. Use a checklist to review terms and conditions of the subconsultant agreement. Key terms include: Standard of care Design phase services Construction phase services Flow-down of obligations and rights of the owner-prime agreement Owner s design standards (if any) Deliverables BIM, CAD, digital practice protocols Schedule Compensation, payment terms Insurance requirements Right to rely on information provided by others Disclaimer of owner s acceptance of nonconforming work or objectionable VE Dispute resolution Suspension and termination Indemnities Waiver of consequential damages Limitation of liability (LoL) Copyrights and ownership of instruments of service Assignment Coordinate all terms and conditions with the prime agreement; seek assistance from knowledgeable legal and insurance advisors. 8

9 Step 4: Insist on Appropriate and Adequate insurance Let s suppose you retained a structural engineer but had failed to ascertain that the engineer had professional liability insurance. Because you are responsible for the actions including negligence of those providing services through you as prime, any claim by the owner will be against you. The claim likely would be paid under your professional policy, even though the error was the engineer s. This will cost you your deductible, erode the available limits on your policy, and could affect the future availability and cost of insurance for you. The solution is to contractually require that all team members carry adequate insurance, including professional liability, commercial general liability, excess liability, commercial auto, and workers comp. Establish requirements for insurance coverage based on the scope and complexity of the project and the subconsultant s services. (For example, structural and mechanical engineering services can be high-risk.) Another example is cyber liability coverage: if your client requires you carry it, then you ll want to require the same of your subs. Pass on the same obligations that you have to your client downstream to the subconsultant especially with respect to the limit of insurance for higher-risk design disciplines and the period for which it is to be maintained. Require that your subconsultants provide current certificates of insurance indicating the existence of coverage, the carrier(s), the limits, and the deductibles. Continue to verify that the subconsultant s insurance has been renewed as the project progresses and that the sub has maintained its coverage at least until the project s statute of limitations runs out. Remember, due to the nature of claims-made insurance, it is the professional liability policy in force when the claim is made that will respond to any future claim, not the policy in force at the time the services were undertaken. Your accounting staff can monitor the insurance requirements (evidenced by the receipt and filing of current insurance certificates) as progress payments are issued to the subconsultants. Step 5: Institute a Comprehensive Approach to Project Planning and Design Coordination A well-developed project plan will orient the entire design team to the known conditions, goals, and requirements of the project, and to provide a basis for team organization, personnel resource allocation, and project work planning. (This is another good reason to bring subs in early.) Are the subconsultants aware of the owner s expectations for sustainable design or other project performance criteria? Has the jurisdiction of the project enacted new and more demanding energy codes? We recommend that you start with a comprehensive Project Initiation Meeting so that all design team members understand the expectations for the project. (See Berkley DP s Project Initiation Meeting for a sample agenda.) A well-developed project plan will orient the entire design team to the known conditions, goals, and requirements of the project. Before schematic design even starts, you ll want to start planning for design coordination. There s a compelling reason for this: coordination problems drive a large number of claims and demand a comprehensive, thoughtful approach. Ericksen says that in his experience, most problems arise not from technical glitches between various design elements, but from the coordination and interface of those design elements. Ericksen recommends that you establish a design coordination plan to be agreed to in writing by all parties, and institute regular coordination meetings or their electronic equivalent. You ll want to identify services to be provided by others (outside the design team), and address any design scope gaps and overlaps. It s also a good idea to require subconsultants to confirm at appropriate milestones that they ve coordinated their elements such as plans, specifications, design 9

10 analysis/criteria, code, and budget. Finally, agree on a procedure to identify conflicts and gaps, assign responsibility to the appropriate party to resolve the issue, and establish a process to confirm that every issue has indeed been resolved. As part of your planning process, you ll need to address Building Information Modeling (BIM) use, process, and protocol. The use of BIM requires detailed, thorough, and integrated planning for the entire design team (and other members of the project team), even more so than with CAD. Establish a BIM Execution Plan as well as digital data agreements that delineate the roles and responsibilities of each party, the scope and levels of development of information to be modeled, relevant business processes, and supporting software. (See BIM Me Up, Scotty: Navigating Risk in Digital Practice.) Step 6: Implement Communication and Documentation Protocols Thorough and consistent communication can help a diverse group of people become a focused and unified team. Poor communications can lead to inefficiency, conflicts, and disputes. To work well, communication must be ongoing among all parties on the project team (including the owner and contractor), and should involve continuous feedback. We suggest that you develop a written communication plan to establish ground rules that define what information is communicated to whom, by whom, and how often. Be careful when you establish direct lines of communication between your subconsultants and or between the subconsultants and the owner or contractor. While it is advisable to encourage the sharing of relevant information in an efficient manner, it is critical that you as the prime consultant stay fully informed of all client and contractor communication and information flow. An important aspect of communication, documentation is a key part of project management and the foundation of effective risk management. Although the process of consistent documentation may seem demanding, there is great value to being the author of the project record. The factors involved in subconsultant services can be complex. Thorough project documentation facilitates understanding of options considered, recommendations made, and decisions reached as the design evolves. Having a record of when meetings and conversation occurred, who participated, and what was decided will help you address questions and resolve problems that may arise later. For example, a subconsultant may forget that he or she studied several options in developing the design but that the owner did not select the recommended solution. If there is no record of this discussion, you can t definitively prove it later. Require that subs properly document their design process pertaining to the systems as well as any material analysis and selection that impacts quality, schedule, compliance, and cost. At the same time, make sure your own firm establishes and complies with a documentation and record management policy that sets forth how information should be created, obtained, used, filed, and retained. [LINK?] Step 7: Watch for Signs of Trouble Be on the lookout for signs of problems with your subconsultants. Watch for communication breakdowns or the failure to follow agreed-upon procedures. Are there are indications that the subconsultant is not keeping pace with the design team s progress schedule? For example, is the sub providing design documents that are not current with the architectural progress documents? Does the sub fail to show up at meetings, or come to meetings unprepared, or without the right team members? Has the subconsultant firm reassigned its project manager or key staff to other projects, bringing less experienced people onto your project? A sub s internal transition can negatively impact the efficiency of the entire design team and can create an opening for critical information to be missed and quality to slip. When a firm gets busy, good people are spread thin, and even their best people are perhaps not as attentive. While new staff may be qualified, they will require time and effort to bring them up to speed on the project. 10

11 During construction, look for excessive RFIs and/or change orders arising from the sub s services. Have there been complaints that the subconsultant is failing to respond to RFIs in a timely manner? Are there allegations of coordination failure? Don t wait to address any of these issues with your subconsultants. By the time you notice a minor issue, it may indicate a far bigger problem. Usually, the faster you respond to a situation, the more easily it can be resolved. Step 8: Conduct Post-Project Assessments of Your Subconsultants The most valuable insights about how well your design team has performed often come when you sit down for a post-project assessment. (See Berkley DP s Project Process Evaluation Survey and Checklist.) While some worry that there s a risk that something you say or write during a post-project assessment ( we really messed up on that roof drain ) could become evidence later during a legal proceeding, the lessons learned from post-project reviews are still important to promote ongoing process improvement in your firm. Discuss your concerns with your attorney; there may be ways to mitigate the risks. For example, some jurisdictions recognize the self-critical analysis privilege. Also, keeping project-evaluation and lessons-learned data in your firm s general quality management file rather than in the project file might mitigate some of the risk of discovery. In any case, be careful how you record this information and focus on project delivery-best practices recommendations rather than criticism of design and technical elements. We recommend that as part of your post-project evaluation process you include assessment of the performance of your subconsultants. Reconvene your Subconsultant Review Team along with the project team to look at the subconsultants responsiveness, communication skills, technical expertise, teamwork, timeliness, quality of services, BIM expertise, and other project delivery factors. Critically, if there was a problem on the project related to the subconsultant s services, did the sub step up and resolve the issue? Would you feel comfortable and confident working with the firm again? Berkley DP s Subconsultant Evaluation Form is designed to help your design team assess strengths and the areas for improvement of the subconsultants with whom they have worked on a project. While it is specific to a project, by analyzing performance over a number of projects, you ll be able to determine a subconsultant s best fit depending on size, type, or complexity of the project. Conclusion For prime consultants, identifying and working with a talented group of subconsultants is an important responsibility. While conducting rigorous subconsultant selection, negotiating good contracts and insurance requirements, as well as establishing strategic approaches to planning and coordination, communication, documentation, monitoring, and evaluation, require a lot of effort. But the payoffs successful projects, repeat clients, fewer disputes, profitable and challenging work, and a well-functioning design team that trusts and values each other are beyond measure. * David A. Ericksen, Esq. of Severson & Werson in California ( serves as approved legal counsel for Berkley DP. He specializes in contractual, risk management and litigation issues affecting design and construction professional communication. 11

12 About Berkley Design Professional Berkley Design Professional was started in 2013 by a team of people with deep roots in underwriting, loss prevention and claims handling for the Design Professional community. The genesis of Berkley DP was the combination of our team s passion for bringing fresh ideas to the products and services Design Professionals need together with W. R. Berkley Corporation s desire to commit its superior financial strength and A+ rated paper to this industry segment. Berkley DP s motto is: Better by Design. By this we mean that our policyholders are better businesses because we ve designed comprehensive coverage and current risk management solutions that make their practice less susceptible to loss. For more information, contact: Andrew D. Mendelson, FAIA Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Management Officer amendelson@berkleydp.com Diane P. Mika Vice President, Director of Risk Management Education dmika@berkleydp.com berkleydp.com (855) Information provided by Berkley Design Professional is for general interest and risk management purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice nor confirmation of insurance coverage. As laws regarding the use and enforceability of the information contained herein will vary depending upon jurisdiction, the user of the information should consult with an attorney experienced in the laws and regulations of the appropriate jurisdiction for the full legal implications of the information. Practice management recommendations should be carefully reviewed and adapted for the particular project requirements, firm standards and protocols established by the design professional 12