June 2011

IN FOCUS: PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY
NSPE Offers Risk Management Resources

Questions surrounding professional liability and risk management can be difficult ones for practicing PEs. If you are looking for guidance on these issues, you will find a wealth of information on the NSPE Web site: www.nspe.org/ProfessionalLiability/index.html.

"For the Client" Series
NSPE's "For the Client" series gives the professional engineer's perspective on numerous topics in the areas of professional liability and risk management. These quick one-page overviews, written by experts in the field, cover issues such as contracts, dispute resolution, project insurance, sustainability, and qualifications-based selection.

Liability Q&A
Can an employed engineer be sued separate and apart from the engineer's employer being sued? Is it a good idea for an employed engineer to purchase his or her own professional liability insurance policy?

Insurance Information
Each year, NSPE collaborates with the American Institute of Architects and the American Council of Engineering Companies to survey providers of professional liability insurance. From the survey, NSPE compiles a useful directory of the providers, and members also have access to the complete survey results. The results give a detailed overview of how the providers' policies stack up against each other.

Document Retention
Establishing a document retention policy for your firm or company can be a somewhat complex task. There are several varying and valid opinions on the issue, and laws differ from state to state, making it difficult to develop a standard policy. To assist, NSPE has developed a model document retention policy that can serve as a foundation for developing your own policy.

The Society also offers document retention guidelines with commentary based on the results of a national survey of professional engineers and engineering firms.

Other Resources
A State-by-State Summary of Liability Laws Affecting the Practice of Engineering (2011) covers statues of repose, certificate of merit, sole-source worker's compensation, joint liability provisions, and anti-indemnity statutes and limitation of liability. The 42-page document is a must-have tool for firms drafting, negotiating service agreements, and managing risks in various states and is available to members for $25.

Learn more by visiting www.nspe.org/ProfessionalLiability/index.html.