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Chapter 10
Section 10.1 addresses the push–pull of a client relationship, in particular with
an unsophisticated client who may rely on the design professional for areas
outside of the designer’s expertise (or insurance coverage). How does one
negotiate setting boundaries with such a client? More than a legal question, this
is a topic for general class discussion about business management.
Chapter 10 is more like a law school textbook, in which the student is expected
Some of us find the key to explaining legal opinions is to diagram the parties’
relationships on a blackboard; see Figure 14.2 as an example. (Sometimes the
sheer number of named parties becomes an impediment to understanding the
facts.) Then questions can be used to tease out a deeper understanding of the
court’s decision. For example: Why did this relationship end in litigation? What
are the main issues confronting the court? What is each party’s position? How
did the court rule and why? With this last question the student encounters
(perhaps for the first time) the nature of legal reasoning: not only “what are the
rules,” but also “what are the reasons or public policies underlying these rules”?
The text following the Griswold case offers questions for students to probe.
These are designed not only to promote class discussion, but also to encourage
students to look critically at a judicial decision.
There is much to choose from for a discussion of cost predictions. Each
instructor will make his or her own decision as to what to emphasize. However,
we recommend not to pass over 10.2E (disclaimers in AIA and EJCDC contracts)
and 10.2F (recommendations).
The Watson case addresses the competing claims of contract disclaimer and
1.) Why should assistance in obtaining financing and economic feasibility studies not be
considered part of basic design services?
2.) What are the two models of cost predictions a design professional can use and how
do they differ?
3.) In the case Griswold and Rauma, Architects, Inc. v. Aesculapius Corp., what were the
four factors that were identified by the court as being relevant to a determination of
what the effect on compensation of an architect or building contractor should be
when the actual or probable cost of construction exceeds an agreed maximum cost
figure?
4.) What is the most common basis for waiving a cost condition?
5.) What are the five choices an owner has if the lowest bona fide bid or negotiated
price exceeds the budget of the project?
6.) What changes did the AIA make to the B101–2007 document Section 3.6.2.1, in an
attempt to create a subjective standard in terms of their duty to inspect the work?
7.) In the case of Board of Education of the Hudson School District v. Sargent, Webster,
Crenshaw & Folley, what was the primary reason the court ruled the architect
breached their contract?
8.) What is the principal purpose of a submittal?
9.) How does the Engineers Joint Contracts Documents Committee (EJCDC) Document
E-500 (2008) address the owner’s use of documents generated by the design
professional?
10.) What does the Copyright Act protect, how does the design professional
protect its copyright, and what conditions will lead a design professional to believe
its copyright has been infringed?
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