Contract and Professional Liability Issues Related to the Use of Building Information Presented By: Ken Wortley and Gunther O. Carrle, Esq. This program will examine the legal issues related to the use of BIM, including the delineation of design responsibility, new liability exposures arising from unintended alterations, overlap of design and construction responsibilities and design delegation, copyright issues and post-project accessibility. The promises of BIM as a tool that promotes collaboration and thereby saves time and money and produces a higher quality project are well known. However, along with those promises comes a host of legal issues that must be addressed. The collaboration promoted by the use of BIM potentially creates confusion in the delineation of responsibilities among the various design disciplines and in some cases between the design and construction teams. When design professionals were first asked to supply their design documents electronically, it was largely done as a convenience to other team participants. Consequently, the design professional was able to substantially restrict the use of the electronic files by others and control the broader liability exposure that could result from electronic distribution. The BIM model, however, is typically a required project deliverable. The design professional’s ability, therefore, to control its liability exposure is substantially restricted. A variety of issues present themselves. For example: What are the copyright interests in the BIM model? What are the liability exposures for the unintended alternation of the model or for a technical defect in the model rather than its substantive content? Does the design professional assume liabilities for means and methods and safety simply because the model is used by the construction team in developing erection plans and construction sequences? The purpose of this presentation is to define these issues and propose possible solutions. About our Speakers: Gunther O. Carrle, Esquire, Powell, Trachtman, Logan, Carrle & Lombardo, P.C., is the Co-Chair of the Design Professional’s Practice Group at Powell, Trachtman. With offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the firm has a regional practice that provides a full range of services to a wide variety of businesses, business owners, executives and investors. Mr. Carrle's practice focuses exclusively on the representation of architects and engineers in litigation and transactional matters. He devotes a substantial portion of his practice to counseling design professionals in preparing and negotiating contracts for domestic and international practices. He has been involved with international construction project for over 15 years including projects in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Middle East, China, South Korea, Russia and Romania. Mr. Carrle graduated with honors from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1976, and a Master of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering in 1977. Mr. Carrle was selected as a national research fellow for the American Institute of Steel Construction. In 1980, he received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania and thereafter served on active duty with the Judge Advocate General Corps-U.S. Army Legal Services Agency for four years. Ken Wortley, Wortley/Poole Professional Ltd. - Bio coming soon. When: Wednesday, Tuesday 23, 2010 Where: The Ace Center Ridge Pike & Manor Road Lafayette Hill, PA 19444 Tel.: 800-523-3000 www.aceconferencecenter.com Featuring a breakfast buffet Time: Registration begins at 7:15 am, Breakfast 7:30 am Cost: DVASE members: FREE, Non-members: $35.00* Reserve by Monday, February 8th Space is limited! *Invite engineers at your firm to attend! If you have any questions, via e-mail to: bkoroncai@barrpino.com fax @ 215-628-9839, or telephone @ 215-628-9844. SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR COPPER SPONSORS
