Risk Management in Architectural Practice (CE) (PjM)

Regardless of how carefully an architect conducts business, how they choose clints or projects, risk remains. Given the complexity of the profession and so many factors and players involved, outcomes may not meet desired goals. The best place to begin mitigating risk is at the beginning, when contracting to provide services.

Simply put, risk is the possibility of loss or injury. The more exposure in an area of practice, the more the need to focus on that area. For some, risk control is concerned with making sure expenses on a project, including potential claims, do not exceed revenue. For others, the prospect of people being injured may take precedence over a concern for financial loss.

In either case, risk management is an area of focus, architects cannot afford to neglect.

Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to:

• Recognize what is being referred to, when risks for architects is being discussed
• Summarize the basic ways to deal with risk
• Identify typical sources of risks that are encountered in the practice of architecture
• Define terms that help understand risk and liability

Paul Spite, BS, BA
AFD Consulting, Founder and Principal

Paul is a Registered Architect with over forty years of experience, a course developer and has been a teacher in multiple venues in the past. He is also a writer in many venues, having developed many studies, a few published articles, numerous short stories, multiple screenplays, two non-fiction manuals for church design and one novel. More to the focus of this endeavor, Paul has also created presentations for twenty-six lunch and learn presentations for building material manufacturers, webinars covering the subjects of Aging-in-Place and Architectural Acoustics and eleven distance learning courses for architects, engineers and contractors. As he nears retirement from managing his small architectural practice, Paul hopes to focus even more of his energy on teaching and on course development.