The Right Angle February 2012 P r i v a t e P r a c t i c e N e w s f r o m t h e L e a d i n g E d g e The Right Angle This Month: ACEC of Kansas Partnering Committee Interest Survey Page 1 ConsensusDOCS Issues Revised Design-Build Agreement Page 1 KSPE/ACEC of Kansas/KDHE Water Quality Seminar Registration Page 2 ACEC of Kansas PAC Contributors Page 3 Obama, Bill Clinton Launch $4B Green Buildings Plan Page 4 ACEC Business Insurance Trust Page 5 A Word from KSPE Page 6 ACEC of Kansas Calendar Page 6 ACEC OF KANSAS PARTNERING COMMITTEE INTEREST SURVEY ACEC of Kansas has partnering committees with various owners and organizations that work with the member firms of ACEC of Kansas. These include KDOT, KDOT Road and Bridge Design Squad leader meetings, APWA KC Metro Chapter, Division of Facilities Management/ AIA, Corps of Engineers, and others. These partnering committees give us a great opportunity to dialogue with these groups, review procedures, regulations and policies before they become final, network with client prospects, and much more. Committee terms run for three years. They truly serve the consulting engineering industry with their work. The ACEC of Kansas President has responsibility for filling the ACEC positions on these committees. The primary tool used for making those appointments is the response to the "ACEC of Kansas Committee Interest" form. You can fill out this form online at: www.acecks.org/ Partnering/CommitteeInterest.aspx. Please take a moment to fill out this form and send it back, which can all be done online. The President typically looks at the responses from the current and previous calendar years, so even if you've filled this out in the past, it's important to do so again on an annual basis. Making appointments to our partnering committees and other initiatives is a critical task, and we would like as much input from our members as possible. We look forward to having you involved! CONSENSUSDOCS ISSUES REVISED DESIGN-BUILD AGREEMENT Earlier this year, the latest version of ConsensusDOCS 420, Standard Agreement Between Design-Builder and Design Professional, was released. The revised document continues the trend of new Consensus- DOCS forms acknowledging the interests of design firms. Although Schinnerer is not involved in the drafting process, the Consensus- DOCS coalition has responded to concerns expressed by Schinnerer that earlier versions targeted design firms for increased liability and uninsured exposures. The 2011 edition does not create any significant uninsurable exposures for a professional service firm. In addition, the new version includes language on sustainability responsibilities and limitations of risk and the sharing of design information through building information models. The agreement does reduce the role of the design firm in the project delivery system, and may allow the (Continued on page 3)
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Even though most design-build firms are allowed by state law to provide design services even if they are not licensed design professionals, the protection of the design-builder is to place the sole fault for any design deficiency on the subcontracted licensed design professional. (Continued from page 1) design firm to be the direct target of client claims through a skip-over provision even though the designbuilder is in privity of contract with the client. Contrary to the single-point responsibility underlying a designbuild contract, the design-builder does not take responsibility for the design. Even though most design-build firms are allowed by state law to provide design services even if they are not licensed design professionals, the protection of the design-builder is to place the sole fault for any design deficiency on the subcontracted licensed design professional. The single -point responsible party who is making a profit providing the design firm s services attempts to escape design liability because of state registration laws. The liability profile of the design firm is raised contractually through provisions such as skip-over clauses in which the client agrees with the design-builder that the design-builder would not be contractually or professionally liable for the negligence of the designbuilder s subcontractor the design firm. More information on ConsensusDOCS 420 and other forms is available from www.consensusdocs.org, and a more complete review is available at www.schinnerer.com/risk-mgmt/ Pages/Managementadvisories.aspx Reprinted with permission of Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc. ACEC OF KANSAS PAC CONTRIBUTORS ACEC of Kansas would like to thank the following member firms who made a PAC contribution since our last issue: QUARTERLY CONTRIBUTORS Bartlett & West, Inc. Baughman Company, P.A. Delich, Roth & Goodwillie, P.A. Engineering Resources HG Consult Haris Engineering, Inc. Kirkham, Michael & Associates, Inc. Orazem & Scalora Ponzer-Youngquist, P.A. Schwab-Eaton, P.A. Shafer, Kline & Warren The Wellington Group Transystems Corporation ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS BG Consultants, Inc. Camp, Dresser & McKee GBA H.W. Lochner HDR Poe & Associates, Inc. Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. These are contributions to the ACEC of Kansas State PAC but do not include donations to the ACEC National PAC. MARK YOUR CALENDAR! KDOT/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Conference October 31, 2012 Topeka Ramada Inn & Convention Center 3
The federal part of the plan aims to carry out at least $2 billion in green buildings improvements over two years. Financing will come through contracts for energy-savings performance an existing mechanism under which energy savings pay for green projects' upfront costs. Andrew Goldberg, American Institute of Architects managing director for government relations, says, "Having this commitment to do the funding means that a lot of architects, engineers and others are going to be able to get to work pretty quickly [on] a whole bunch of retrofits." By Tom Ichniowski OBAMA, BILL CLINTON LAUNCH $4B GREEN BUILDINGS PLAN President Obama and former President Bill Clinton have kicked off a $4-billion public-private program to upgrade a wide range of buildings to make them more energy efficient. Design and construction officials praised the initiative but said other measures could deepen its impact. Unveiled on Dec. 2 as Obama and Clinton toured a Washington, D.C., renovation project, the plan follows earlier green-buildings efforts by the White House and private companies. In a nod to Capitol Hill realities, the program has no new federal spending or tax incentives, which would require approval from a Congress that has slashed budgets for programs such as General Services Administration new-buildings construction. Industry officials welcomed the new plan. Jason Hartke, U.S. Green Building Council vice president for national policy, says, "This is a tremendous announcement that's going to get people back to work." He adds, "It sits at this unique nexus of saving energy saving businesses money and creating jobs. That's just a tough calculus to beat." Obama called the threefold benefits "a trifecta." The federal part of the plan aims to carry out at least $2 billion in green buildings improvements over two years. Financing will come through contracts for energy-savings performance an existing mechanism under which energy savings pay for green projects' up-front costs. On the non-federal side, 60 companies, universities, labor unions, hospitals, cities and states have committed to upgrading 1.6 billion sq ft of building space. A key element is the financial firms' $2-billion pledge to fund the non-federal projects. That expands a Clinton Global Initiative commitment in June by 14 private or public entities to upgrade 300 million sq ft and provide $500 million to pay for the work. Andrew Goldberg, American Institute of Architects managing director for government relations, says, "Having this commitment to do the funding means that a lot of architects, engineers and others are going to be able to get to work pretty quickly [on] a whole bunch of retrofits." Now, Hartke adds, "We've got to translate [the plan] into implementation." Industry officials think the program could use some add-ons. Hartke suggests the Treasury Dept. take steps to make the deduction for energyefficiency improvements to commercial buildings easier for taxpayers to use. AIA continues to lobby for energyefficiency tax breaks, Goldberg says. Another program supporter, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue, said the energy - savings contracts have great potential but called them "grossly underutilized." The Chamber of Commerce has proposed, among other steps, additional training for federal employees who work with the contracts and a presidential executive order directing agencies to use the contracts for most of their energy projects. Reprinted courtesy of Engineering News-Record, copyright The McGraw Hill Companies, Inc., (December 12, 2011), All rights reserved. 4
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A WORD From KSPE Mark your calendar and plan to attend the following KSPE sponsored events in 2012: Kansas Professional Engineers, Surveyors, Geologists, Architects and Landscape Architects Licensure Recognition Ceremony Friday, February 17, 2012 3:00 p.m. Memorial Hall Auditorium 120 SW 10th Avenue Topeka, Kansas KSPE/ACEC of Kansas/KDHE Water Quality Seminar February 23, 2012 Topeka Ramada Inn & Convention Center See page two for registration information KSPE Annual Conference June 27-29, 2012 Double Tree Hotel Overland Park, Kansas 13th Annual Engineers Foundation of Kansas Fundraiser Golf Tournament September 28, 2012 Alvamar Golf Course Lawrence, Kansas MARK YOUR CALENDAR 2012 February 8 AIA/DCC/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Committee Meeting Topeka February 9 ACEC of Kansas Board Meeting Topeka February 15 KDOT/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Committee Meeting Topeka February 17 Licensure Recognition Ceremony Topeka February 21 APWA KC Metro Partnering Committee Meeting Overland Park February 23 KSPE/ACEC of Kansas/KDHE Water Quality Seminar Topeka March 8 ACEC of Kansas Board Meeting Topeka May 18 ACEC of Kansas Board Meeting Topeka May 23 KDOT/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Committee Meeting Kansas City May 31-June 2 ACEC Midwest States Conference Branson June 27-29 KSPE Annual Conference Overland Park August 15 KDOT/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Committee Meeting Wichita September 28 13th Annual EFK Fundraiser Golf Tournament Lawrence October 31 KDOT/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Conference Topeka November 1 KDOT/ACEC of Kansas Partnering Committee Meeting Topeka 2013 June 5-12 ACEC Midwest States Conference U.S. Virgin Islands 2014 June 5-7 ACEC Midwest States Conference Branson 6