Construction Design Claims

Overview of the Committee’s Focus:

Professional liability claims against architects, engineers or other construction design planners are the focus of this PLDF committee. Claimant attorneys are pursuing construction-related lawsuits that complain, for example, about:

• Design Quality
• Project Oversight Conscientiousness
• Engineering Quality
• Code Compliance
• Plan Adequacy
• Specifications Adequacy
• Contract Compliance
• Subcontractor Selection

Lawyers’ allegations may involve contentions of structural failure, project delay, building envelope breaches, personal injury, repair and reconstruction costs, or other adverse construction impacts. Whether the design professional’s work complied with the applicable standard of care requires thoughtful marshaling of claim facts, building code knowledge and expert witness recruitment. The Construction Design Claims Committee of PLDF focuses on these subjects and provides information to members on other subjects including, for example:

• Applicability of the Economic Loss Doctrine
• Duties Alleged by Third Parties
• Effects of Contract Terms
• Limitations Statute Arguments
• ADR Strategies
• Material Suppliers’ Roles
• Loss Allocation Arrangements
• Property Inspection Planning

Committee members are asked to contribute to article publication, to monitor the PLDF news and respond to member inquiries for assistance, and to assist in annual meeting seminar presentation planning.