Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now for the Tuesday, May 22, 2012 10:00 am, Pacific Daylight Time webinar.

• In the Instructions to Bidders, identify the person to whom questions during bidding are to be asked – Include contact information – FAX No. and e-mail address. State that no questions will be answered verbally. Provide a cut-off date for questions.
• When providing written response to questions, repeat the question exactly as submitted without any editing.
• Provide written answers to questions to all bidders at the same time. This is usually done by posting the answers to the Owner’s website.
• Answers that revise quantities, schedule, specifications, drawings, or bid date usually require an Addendum. State whether an Addendum will be issued in connection with the answer.
• Allow enough time for bidders to adjust bids based on answered questions. If questions are received too late, consider issuing an Addendum revising the bid date to provide additional time.
• Issue a new bid form with each addendum including acknowledgment of having received all addenda.
• Review the above process with your client prior to advertising for bids.

The following are some thoughts on insurance requirements:

• General Liability Insurance – This insurance provides protection from claims arising from other than your professional services activities. This insurance is readily available and is usually not a controversial contract requirement.
• Automobile Liability Insurance – As the name implies, it protects against claims resulting from damage caused by a motor vehicle used in the performance of your services. If some of your staff use their privately owned vehicles, their insurance carrier will often provide a certificate of insurance naming the client as an additional insured.
• Workers Compensation – This insurance is required by statute so this should already be in place for your firm. Having the client named as an additional insured is generally not available.
• Professional Liability Insurance – This insurance protects your firm from damages resulting from your negligent errors or omissions. There are multiple ways that this insurance may be obtained but in most cases, the coverage is for a specific aggregate amount during the policy period. That means that the face amount on the policy is the total amount of money that will be available to cover all costs associated with any claim paid during the policy period, not “per claim”. Some clients incorrectly believe that the entire face amount of the policy will be available for their project. This is where a careful review of the wording of the insurance requirements by your insurance broker is so important. Having the client named as an additional insured is rarely available.
• Project Insurance – This insurance provides professional liability coverage for the entire design team for the length of the project from design through construction and the face amount of the policy is dedicated solely to a particular project. Because coverage is provided for all design parties working on the project for an extended period of time, project insurance is frequently difficult to obtain and almost always very expensive.

This information has been provided to Hall & Company by John Lowe, President of Lowe Consulting, LLC.

We would like to encourage you and everyone in your firm to take advantage of our free ongoing education program on the topics of risk management, practice management and loss prevention for architects, engineers and environmental consultants. Every six weeks we offer a one hour webinar on a coordinated series of topics by leading experts. Register to receive the webinar announcements, you do not want to take the risk of missing an opportunity to learn about your Professional Liability.

Register for this FREE webinar today— no travel required!

The next Hall & Company AE Resources webinar will be held on Tuesday, Apr 10, 2012 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT. Please join David Ericksen, President of Severson & Werson as he discusses Spring Cleaning Your Documentation.

This presentation will discuss the following topics:

1.  The consequences of missing, lost, or incomplete project documentation.
2.  Evaluating the options and interplay between paper and electronic records.
3.  Core Principles for documentation and document retention.
4.  Specific tools and resources to consistently address and succeed with recurring documentation issues.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/570173246

• Expertise – An experienced broker understands the insurance exposures you face every day and knows that a one-size-fit all approach doesn’t work for design professionals, engineers and consultants. Your business risks are unique and your insurance coverage should be too.

• Access To Resources – While placing quality insurance is an important service of a broker, access to expert resources to avoid or minimize loss is equally important to you. For example contract reviews by brokers with expert resources can eliminate the avoidable assumption of a loss and/or a scar to the stellar reputation you worked hard to build over the years.

• Seamless Coverage – Access to seamless brokerage/consulting service across multiple insurance lines of coverage helps prevent gaps in coverage or costly duplication of coverage. A broker should have proven experience and a product portfolio in all lines of coverage including and not limited to professional liability, property & casualty, auto, excess/umbrella, pollution, and workers’ compensation.

• Purchasing Power – A brokerage firm that places thousands of policies for design professionals, engineers and consultants benefits you greatly with purchasing power to procure the most competitively priced and broadest coverage available. The broker with a streamlined quoting process facilitates you by securing the coverage, price and financial security that best suits your unique requirements. Your contracts will likely require insurers with A “Excellent” or higher A.M Best financial ratings, so it’s important that your broker represents insurers that satisfy these requirements.

The process of buying professional liability insurance probably is not one that you look forward to each year. And although “quick and painless “may appear to be the most rewarding promise that an insurance broker can make, our goal is to bring greater value to the process through professionalism and experience. Hall & Company recently added to our staff of brokers, Chris Engstrom Senior Producer. We are confident Chris’ 26 years of commercial insurance experience will not only accomplish our goal to add greater value, but enhance our client’s overall experience in obtaining professional liability insurance.