Resource Guide (Software Updates)

Top Risk Management Questions Facing Design Firms Today

By G. Daniel Bradshaw, CPCU

As an insurance agent working with design firms every day, I get lots of questions regarding professional liability risks. Here is a listing in no particular order of the top professional liability questions I have been hearing from my clients and prospects, including my structural clients. It’s not a scientific poll, mind you, but a fair reflection of what’s on the minds of design firms when considering their professional risks.

Should I sign my client’s take-it-or-leave-it contract?

This is a very difficult question to answer. First, the fact that a client would take such a stance should send up a red flag. Is this the type of entity or individual you want to do business with? But if it’s a project or client that is attractive to you from a business standpoint, a client-drafted contract is not necessarily a bad thing. The key is to ensure the contract does not contain onerous language you simply can’t accept. First of all, READ the contract – or have legal counsel do so. Highlight any language that you feel presents risks to your firm. Look for language that asks you to indemnify the client from risks that might otherwise logically belong with the client. For example, does it ask you to take responsibility for the client’s negligence or actions? Please be aware, if you agree to accept liabilities that would not be yours absent the contractual obligation, those liabilities will most likely NOT be insured! In the end, it comes down to a risk-versusreward business decision. You may be able to get a contract review from your insurance agent, but only you know whether you can live with the contract conditions.

Whatever happened to project insurance?

Long ago and far, far away, most professional liability insurers offered a product called project-specific insurance. Generally, this type of insurance covered all of the design firms working on a single project up to the policy’s dedicated limits. It was typically paid for by the project owner and the fees earned by the design firms did not count in the calculation of their own practice policies. Sounds great, right? Who could lose when project owners had guaranteed coverage up to their desired limits and the design firms avoided most if not all the cost? The insurance company, that’s who! These policies, for a variety of reasons, resulted in monumental losses for insurers. As claims and loss ratios hit the stratosphere, insurance companies pulled their products off the market and project policies went the way of the dinosaur. Actually, there are still a few insurers who may offer project policies under the right conditions, but prices are extremely high and policy conditions are not as attractive as before.

Will my clients really accept a limitation of liability (L of L) contract provision?

You’ll never know until you try! The fact is many clients accept L of L contract provisions once the reasoning behind them is explained. The primary line of reasoning goes something like this: The client has the most to gain from a successfully completed project. The designer’s gain is limited to project fees minus expenses. So if the owner has the bulk of the reward, shouldn’t they also be willing to accept its fair share of risk? As a structural engineer, your client is often another designer who didn’t negotiate a limitation of liability clause with its client, the project owner. Regardless, you should discuss the importance of this clause and the benefits for you and them. The best L of L negotiation stance is to avoid a yes/no decision. Provide your client an option – you can either perform your services with unlimited liability for one fee, or you can lower that fee if the client is willing to accept the L of L. If clients balk at the amount, raise the limit. A cap at your available insurance limits rather than your fee, for example, is much better than no clause at all.

This material is provided for informational purposes only. Before taking any action that could have legal or other important consequences, confer with a qualified professional who can provide guidance that considers your own unique circumstances. G. Daniel Bradshaw, CPCU is a professional liability specialist in Bountiful, Utah, and is Immediate Past President of the Professional Liability Agents Network (PLAN), an association of agencies and brokerages serving design firms in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.

How much will my professional liability insurance cost next year?

That’s going to depend on a whole slew of factors. Your premiums will be based on your annual fees, your claims history, the types of projects you’ve worked on and whether you take advantage of cost-saving opportunities offered by your insurance company – such as completing loss prevention education programs or including prescribed risk management practices. All things being even, insurance premiums are currently pretty stable, but that may change. Be sure you consider the entire cost of professional liability protection, not just your annual policy premium. You might find an insurance agent or broker offering significantly reduced premiums. But if you end up with inferior policy coverage and inadequate claim service, support and advice, buying that cheap policy may turn out to be the most expensive decision you’ve ever made.

What is the best thing I can do to reduce my professional liability risks?

That one is pretty easy – manage your client relations. Claims studies show that non-technical factors are the leading cause of claims, and topping the list are communication problems between designers and their clients. Stress within your firm the need to have open, honest and clear communications with your clients. Good communications go a long way to uncovering misunderstandings, omissions and errors at the earliest stage possible, before they require an expensive fix. Equally important, if you have a solid, open and trusting relationship with your clients, they are more willing to seek amicable solutions to any project upsets that arise, rather than immediately calling in their lawyers and threatening you with claims. When your client’s attitude is one of “how can we fix it?” rather than “how are you going to fix it?” you’ve won half the battle.▪

Nabih Youssef

Pioneering Seismic Pacesetter

By Richard G. Weingardt, P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, F.ACEC, D.Sc.h.c.

Since its founding in 1989, Nabih Youssef Associates (NYA) has become an internationally recognized consulting firm providing specialized structural and earthquake engineering services for both new and existing buildings. As a leader in implementing state-of-the-art technologies, NYA’s contributions to the development of earthquake engineering codes and standards and performance-based design has made possible numerous elegant, cost-effective and leading-edge structures. The firm’s founder, Nabih Youssef, pioneered the concepts of performance-based design – refinement of the idea that buildings should move with earthquakes, not resist them – and of base isolation to protect structures seismically. Incorporating base isolation techniques into the design of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels has given its structure a projected service life of 500 years. Youssef used innovative steel-plate shear walls, instead of thick concrete shear walls, to provide the lateral strength for the 55-story LA Live! Hotel and Residences Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the first high-rise building in the city to have such a system. It reduced the weight of the structure by 30 percent, shortened the project’s construction timeline and made available more window space. The thinner (⅛ inch) steel-plate shear walls also allowed for more rentable floor space – approximately 750 square feet extra per floor, and roughly 20,000 square feet total. Nabih was born on May 29, 1944 in Cairo, Egypt, to Fouad and Amira Youssef. He was the third child of five boys and one girl and grew up in an upper-middle-class family within an ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse community, which he described as a “Mediterranean culture.” Nabih’s father, from a large family who were mostly owners of large farms, was educated in the American College and held a government position with the interior ministry. Following in the family tradition, Nabih attended French Catholic School. In his youth and early adulthood, he enjoyed athletics and cultural activities, and was an active member of the YMCA as well as other sports and Nabih Youssef. leadership programs. His Courtesy of favorite subjects were hisNYA. tory, geography, engineering and science. He was 16 when he first decided on a career in engineering, influenced by the American space program. Initially, Nabih thought he wanted to be a scientist because of his fascination with aerospace and its promises. However, at Cairo University he encountered several renowned faculty members who were graduates of Cal-Tech, MIT, ITT, Cal-Berkley and Cambridge/Oxford. He shifted from aerospace to structural engineering and received a bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in 1967. After immigrating to the United States, he received a master’s degree from California State University (CSU) in Los Angeles and then a postgraduate Diploma in earthquake engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1974. Nabih married Isis, a computer analyst, on April 28, 1974. They have three children, Michelle-Marie, John Paul and Christine-Marie. Michelle works in the field of education, John Paul is the founder and manager of Capital Creation Investments, and Christine is working on a master’s degree in social work at the University of Chicago with a focus on special needs children. Youssef started at Welton Becket in 1969. During his time there, he worked on such projects as the Hyatt Regency and Theme Tower in Dallas, Texas; the Moscow World Trade Center; the Washington, DC, Convention Center; and the 1975 redesign of Olive View Hospital, whose partial collapse during the 1971 San Fernando earthquake cemented his focus on seismic engineering. In 1982 he joined A.C. Martin Partners in Los Angeles, where he led its engineering division. He designed the Manu-Life Tower, Beverly Hills Civic Center, downtown Los Angeles YMCA and Home Savings Tower during this time. He then started his own firm in 1989.

LA Live! Hotel and Residences. Not only modern in its architectural form, the hotel tower takes full advantage of a leading edge structural steel lateral force resisting system, comprised of unstiffened thin steel plate shear walls (SPSW), moment frames, Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB), mid-height outriggers and cap trusses. The design process exemplifies a successful collaboration of performance-based engineering and rigorous peer review by a panel of noted experts in each structural system type. The result minimizes the cost and construction schedule while maximizing the interior space available for architectural programming. Courtesy of NYA.

Significant projects in NYA’s bulging portfolio, in addition to the Cathedral of Our Lady and LA Live!, include the J. Paul Getty Villa Renovation in Malibu, California; Cleveland Museum of Art Expansion; Skirball Jewish Cultural Center; Dodger Stadium Renovations; Los Angeles Coliseum Renovations; UCSF Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building; Los Angeles City Hall Base Isolation; Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters; Broad Museum; and the New Stanford Hospital. Youssef is registered civil and structural engineer in California, and is also licensed in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington. He has been active in

a number of engineering organizations including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAoC). He is also a member of many industry-impacting engineering committees, most notably as the co-founder of the Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancement in research on tall buildings by means of an annual conference and scholarship program. A recognized expert in the field of seismic design and seismic safety, Youssef has served as chair of the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Panel for Seismic Hazard Reduction, as a commissioner for Santa Monica Building and Safety, on the Governor’s California Buildings Standards Commission and as chair of the Seismic Safety Commission. He has evaluated the seismic hazard in LA’s existing inventory of older buildings and investigated numerous major earthquakes around the world including Managua, Nicaragua (1972); Tangshan, China (1976); Mexico City (1985); Loma Prieta (1989); Cairo, Egypt (1991); Kobe, Japan (1995); and Chile (2010). Youssef is a Fellow in the Institute for The Advancement of Engineering. He is a member of the California Club, Jonathan Club and Downtown Breakfast Club and is very active in his church, where he works with the youth through education, training programs, leadership camps and sports. He is a co-founder of the Coptic Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization that encourages children in the community to pursue their educational goals, and provides support and funding so that they can receive college degrees. He has served on the board of Marymount High School (which his daughters attended), Junior Blind and the LA Conservancy. In addition to his various publications and presentations, Youssef has taught at universities for more than 20 years. He has been a lecturer for key courses in structural design, preservation of historical structures and glass structures at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC).He has also been involved in various industry and governmental panels, notably: • Congressional Office of Technology

Assessment Advisory Panel

Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral. Although the building is essentially two stories, 150 feet tall, it has multiple roof diaphragm levels and shapes. The architectural features of the design (exposed concrete, tall slender walls, and an abundance of glass) placed exceptional demands on the structural design and construction. Designed as a place of refuge after major disasters for 500 years, the entire cathedral was base isolated, making it the heaviest building to ever be isolated. Response modification using different isolation; global finite element models and nonlinear time history analyses were performed to study the global response. For the concrete walls (BIAX), moment curvature analysis was performed to assess cracking at DBE displacement, and several different stress-strain models for concrete tension behavior were created. Courtesy of NYA.

• Vision 200 Committee (founder and chair) • Seismology Committee of SEAoC • Project Restore (past chair), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration and revitalization of historic facilities in Los Angeles, such as City Hall Lindbergh Beacon and

Hollyhock House, designed by Frank

Lloyd Wright. Among Youssef’s specialties are monocoque structures that are highly irregular, such as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and Broad Museum. Other examples are the Glendale MSB, Hines La Jolla, Brinderson Towers, 1100 Wilshire and Madame Tussauds, Hollywood. He also has much interest in structural glass design and has been involved in many projects featuring it, such as a glass staircase for the Apple Store in San Francisco, a large glass cantilever at the Cleveland Museum of Art and large glass panels at Claremont McKenna College. Youssef was the recipient of the 2010 AISC Designer Special Achievement Award, as well as a special AISC Presidents Award for Excellence in Structural Engineering for LA Live! He received the AIA Los Angeles Presidential Award in 2008, the USC Architectural Guild award for Outstanding Achievement, and the 2001 Cal State LA Distinguished Alumni Award. In 1999 he received the Egyptian American Organization’s Outstanding Achievement Award. Said Youssef, “The complete integration of art, science and technology is the point at which design excellence is achieved. This profession is about committing yourself wholly to your vision and living it through your clients, projects, associates and life’s opportunities.”▪

Richard G. Weingardt, P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, F.ACEC, D.Sc.h.c. (rweingardt@weingardt.com), is Chairman of Richard Weingardt Consultants, Inc. in Denver, Colorado. He is the author of ten books, including Circles in the Sky: The Life and Times of George Ferris and Engineering Legends. His latest book, Empire Man, is about Homer Balcom, structural engineer for the Empire State Building.

ADAPT Corporation

Phone: 650-306-2400 Email: info@adaptsoft.com Web: www.adaptsoft.com Product: ADAPT-Edge for Concrete Buildings Description: This new structural analysis software offers the only complete solution for the detailed analysis and design of concrete fl oors, foundations, and full building structures, eliminating the need to maintain separate slab and general purpose programs. Models RC or post-tensioned members. Supports BIM workfl ow through seamless integration with Revit Structure.

Bentley Systems

Phone: 760-431-3610 Email: jason.reichel@bentley.com Web: www.bentley.com Product: RAM Structural System V8i Description: The RAM Structural System is a specialized engineering software tool for the complete analysis, design, and drafting of both steel and concrete buildings. It optimizes workfl ows through the creation of a single model by providing specialized design functions for buildings and by providing thorough documentation.

CADRE Analytic

Phone: 425-392-4309 Email: cadresales@cadreanalytic.com Web: www.cadreanalytic.com Product: CADRE Pro Description: New version 6.5. Finite element application with advanced modeling tools. Designed by professional engineers as a practical tool for architectural, civil, mechanical and structural engineers. Solves beam and/or plate type structures for internal loads, stress, displacements, vibration modes, and natural frequencies. Advanced features for stability, shock and seismic loads.

CMC Steel Products

Phone: 972-772-0769 Email: marketing@cmc.com Web: www.cmcsteelproducts.com Product: RAM SBeam CMC SMARTBEAM® Version 5.01 Description: RAM SBeam – CMC SMARTBEAM is a powerful and versatile program for the design of castellated and cellular steel beams. Using one of several design codes, RAM SBeam – CMC SMARTBEAM® can select the optimum SMARTBEAM size or check the adequacy of existing construction.

Computers & Structures, Inc.

Phone: 510-649-2200 Email: info@csiberkeley.com Web: www.csiberkeley.com Product: CSiBridge Description: CSiBridge V15.2 features enhanced bridge design of prestressed concrete box girders and composite sections with precast I-girders and U-girders. Design includes the effect of both mild reinforcing and prestress tendons, and is current with the latest US, Eurocode, and International standards. Steel bridge design now includes new steel shapes.

Concrete Masonry Association of CA and NV (CMACN)

Phone: 916-722-1700 Email: info@cmacn.org Web: www.cmacn.org Product: CMD09 Computer Program Description: Design of reinforced concrete or clay hollow unit masonry elements. Designs masonry elements in accordance with provisions of Ch. 21 of the 1997 UBC; 2001, 2007 or 2010 CBC; 2003, 2006 or 2009 IBC; and 1999, 2002, 2005 or 2008 Bldg. Code Requirements for Masonry Structures (TMS 402/ACI 530/ASCE 5) [MSJC].

CSC Inc.

Phone: 877-710-2053 Email: sales@cscworld.com Web: www.cscworld.com Product: Fastrak Description: The essential design and drafting software for steel buildings. Design simple or complex steel buildings to US codes. Produce clear and concise documentation including drawings and calculations. Product: Revit Integrator Description: As an Autodesk Industry Partner, CSC launched Revit Integrator. This free, unique software enables structural engineers to synchronise models between Autodesk Revit Structure and CSC’s steel building design software, Fastrak. It is an industry leading solution making two-way integration with Revit Structure easy, highlighting amendments made during the synchronisation process. Product: TEDDS Description: Powerful software to automate your daily structural calculations. Access Tedds’ comprehensive library of automated structural and civil engineering calculations. Easily check your output with Tedds’ transparent calculations.

Design Data

Phone: 402-441-4000 Email: marnett@sds2.com Web: www.sds2connect.com Product: SDS/2 Connect Description: SDS/2 Connect enables structural engineers using Autodesk® Revit® Structure to intelligently design connections and produce detailed documentation on those connections. SDS/2 Connect is the only product that enables structural engineers to design and communicate connections based on their Revit Structure design model as an active part of the fabrication process.

All Resource Guides and Updates for the 2012 Editorial Calendar are now available on the website, www.STRUCTUREmag.org. Listings are provided as a courtesy. STRUCTURE® magazine is not responsible for errors. Devco Software, Inc.

Phone: 541-426-5713 Email: rob@devcosoftware.com Web: www.devcosoftware.com Product: LGBEAMER v8 Description: Analyze and design cold-formed cee, channel and zee sections. Uniform, concentrated, partial span and axial loads. Single and multi-member designs. 2007 NASPEC (2009 IBC) compliant. ProTools include shearwalls, framed openings, X-braces, joists and rafters.

Digital Canal

Phone: 800-449-5033 Email: clint@digitalcanal.com Web: www.digitalcanal.com Product: Wind Analysis Version 9 Description: Wind Analysis Version 9 makes implementing the new ASCE 7-10 standard simple and intuitive. The program has been reorganized to match ASCE’s new workfl ow and even includes context sensitive display of ASCE fi gures. Reports with unsurpassed detail can be generated in your choice of DOC, PDF and XLS format.

Dimensional Solutions, Inc.

Phone: 281-497-5991 Email: Info@DimSoln.com Web: www.DimSoln.com Product: DimSoln Foundation Design Suite™ Description: Design Suite components are integrated, single program analysis/design tools that complete soil and pile-supported foundation design from concept to construction drawings to modeling in minutes. Learn how Foundation3D, Mat3D, DSAnchor, Combined3D and Shaft3D can give you signifi cant time savings and increased productivity. Product: Foundation3D Description: Foundation designs for plant equipment supports have never been easier! Use Foundation3D to complete soil and pile supported foundation designs for exchangers, vessels, drums, towers, silos, pipe racks, and similar equipment. Experience signifi cantly enhanced productivity by reducing your design, drawing and 3D modeling time by over 50%. Product: Mat3D Description: Mat3D completes soil and pile supported mat/pile cap designs supporting multiple load points, in an integrated environment that takes you from concept to construction in minutes. Enhance your productivity from input to construction drawings and 3D foundation modeling in popular CAD/modeling engines for industrial, commercial, petrochemical, transmission foundation design projects.

GT STRUDL

Phone: 404-894-2260 Email: casec@ce.gatech.edu Web: www.gtstrudl.gatech.edu Product: GT STRUDL Description: GT STRUCDL Version 32 – Comprehensive linear and nonlinear static and dynamic analysis features for frame and fi nite element structures. Models plastic hinges,

geometric nonlinearities, discrete dampers, tension/compression only members and nonlinear connections. Steel Design including NEW Nuclear Codes and Reinforced Concrete Design. Base Plate Analysis and Multi-Processor Solvers available.

Hilti, Inc.

Phone: 800-879-8000 Email: us-sales@hilti.com Web: www.us.hilti.com Product: PROFIS Anchor and PROFIS DF Description: Hilti offers two design programs for structural engineers. PROFIS Anchor performs anchor design for cast-in-place and Hilti post-installed anchors using ACI 318, Appendix D provisions. PROFIS DF Diaphragm performs design calculations for steel deck roof and fl oor diaphragms using the SDI Diaphragm DesignManual, 3rd Edition provisions.

IES, Inc.

Phone: 800-707-0816 Email: sales@iesweb.com Web: www.iesweb.com Product: VisualAnalysis 9.0 Description: In version 9.0 of VisualAnalysis we have added over 30 new features and improvements. Topping the list of exciting new features are: Steel Warping Torsion Checks, Graphical Bracing Locations, CADLike Selection Box, Automatic Patterned Live Loads, Design Checks for Dynamic Response, Improved Concrete Slab Design, Signifi cant Performance Improvements, and more!

LARSA, Inc.

Phone: 800-LARSA-01 Email: jhorner@larsa4d.com Web: www.Larsa4D.com Product: LARSA 4D Description: LARSA 4D analysis and design software addresses the specialized needs of cable-stay, suspension, curved, skewed, and other bridge forms, as well as structures requiring geometric nonlinearity or a staged analysis. Standard in leading fi rms for bridge design and construction analysis, LARSA 4D continues to lead innovation in analysis and support.

Losch Software, Ltd

Phone: 323-592-3299 Email: edlosch@loscheng.com Web: www.LoschSoft.com Product: LECWall Description: Precast/Prestressed or Tilt-up Concrete Wall and Column Design Software.

National Concrete Masonry Association

Phone: 703-713-1900 Email: dgraber@ncma.org Web: www.ncma.org Product: Direct Design Software Description: This new software based on The Masonry Society’s new consensus standard Direct Design Handbook (TMS 403-10), literally allows single story concrete masonry buildings to be designed in minutes considering all load combinations. Excellent graphics and fully detailed wall elevations generated.

Nemetschek Scia

Phone: 877-808-7242 Email: usa@scia-online.com Web: www.scia-online.com Product: Scia Engineer Description: Scia Engineer links structural modeling, analysis modeling, design, drawings and reports in ONE program. Discover simple FEA analysis. Centralize design with static and advanced non-linear analysis and support for many U.S. and International codes. Freeform and parametric technology, and links to many popular 3D/BIM programs makes modeling fast and effi cient.

Opti-Mate, Inc.

Phone: 610-530-9031 Email: optimate@enter.net Web: www.opti-mate.com Product: Bridge Engineering Software Description: Software titles include Merlin Dash, Descus I and Descus II for curved girders, TRAP for trusses and SABRE sign bridges. Pile Dynamics, Inc.

Phone: 216-831-6131 Email: gina@pile.com Web: www.pile.com/pdi Product: GRLWEAP Description: GRLWEAP simulates pile driving, predicting driving stresses, hammer performance, bearing capacity versus net set per blow relationship, and total driving time. Allows selecting an adequate and economic hammer for the pile-soil condition. Based on Wave Equation Analysis. New: GRLWEAP Offshore Wave Version with special modeling features for offshore projects.

popIcon Software

Phone: 415-875-7850 Email: communications@popiconsoftware.com Web: www.popiconsoftware.com Product: popIcon 2011 & 2012 Description: PopIcon Software improves productivity for both model building and documentation by giving users an easy interface that puts tools, tabs and icon families at your fi ngertips. Now available for Revit® Structure 2011 and Rivit Structure 2012. Try poplcon free for 14 days!

continued on next page