The mission of the Risk Management Program of the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE) is to improve the practice of structural engineering by reducing the frequency and severity of claims.

CASE members have access to tools that make achievement of this goal more manageable. These tools have been developed with the 10 Foundations of Risk Management as a guideline. The 10 Foundations form the basis around which a risk management program can be built. More information on the 10 Foundations can be found at www.acec.org/RMP.

"Risk Management" columns in August and December 2007 introduced the first four tools in this series. The fifth and sixth foundations (and corresponding tools) are "Education: Educate all of the players in the process" and "Scope: Develop and manage a clearly defined scope of services."

Tool 5-1 Education: Educate all of the players in the process

Education, as it pertains to risk management, refers not only to staff training, but also to the other stakeholders in a project. The unique set of skills and knowledge that engineers possess must be passed down to less-experienced staff and to other members of a project team. Owners who are unfamiliar with the design and construction process may need to be educated so that their expectations about the nature of professional services and the proper allocation of risk are understood.

Tool 5-1, A Guide to the Practice of Structural Engineering, focuses on staff education. Recent graduates and young engineers have a thorough grasp of structural engineering principles on an academic level, but may not have much exposure to the day-to-day operations in a structural engineering office.

The guide provides a "cradle to grave" narrative of the life of a project. It begins with marketing and project acquisition; continues through contract and scope development; describes the processes of schematic design, design development, and construction document production, as well as quality control; and concludes with construction; conflict resolution; and project accounting.

It is recommended that young engineers read the guide and then take the test at the end of the document. This process will facilitate further discussion between new hires and senior staff. Completion of the test at the end of the guide by new hires can become a standard procedure within your firm’s mentoring and risk management programs.


Tool 6-1 Scope: Develop and manage a clearly defined scope of services

A well-defined, written scope of services can mitigate claims by clearly defining responsibility and fee, clarifying additional services, defining contract terms, and forming the basis for a work plan. Scope creep should be managed so risk is not increased without proper compensation.

Tool 6-1 is a software-based project scope questionnaire that is based on CASE Documents 2-2003 and 6-1999. The tool starts by prompting the user for all of the fundamental project information (budget, framing systems, et cetera). It then guides the user through potential tasks in each phase of a project, prompting the user to enter "Included" or "Not Included" for each task for the given project. The user can add remarks adjacent to each task, such as "12 site visits maximum." In addition, the user can edit the tasks to suit your firm’s standard form or a project’s specific requirements.

After the user has completed the survey, the tool creates a printable summary of services. This summary can be attached to an agreement with a client to define your firm’s scope of services for a project. It can also be used to communicate the agreed-upon services to your firm’s staff.

Access to Tools 5-1 and 6-1 (and all previously released and future tools) is provided to CASE members free of charge. Non-members may purchase the tools and have the opportunity to test one of the tools at no cost. Visit www.acec.org/RMP to see a description of the tools. E-mail Corey Matsuoka, vice-chairman of the Toolkit Committee at cmatsuoka@ssfm.com for more information.

The Risk Management Program (RMP) is organized as a program of the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) Coalition of American Structural Engineers (CASE). The group’s mission is to enhance risk management, loss prevention, and claims management techniques of the structural engineering profession. To learn more, visit www.acec.org/RMP.

Nils V. Ericson III, P.E., LEED AP, is project manager for The Di Salvo Ericson Group in Ridgefield, Conn. He can be reached at nils@tdeg.com.