Joel L. Halverson will be presenting “Leveling the Playing Field – Contract Negotiation Strategies for Design Professionals” on Thursday, February 15, 2018.
We are currently experiencing a “seller’s market” in which owners and developers are finding it to be a challenge to find good help. Construction professionals can take advantage of this economic climate to secure important contractual protections we would not have dreamed of obtaining in the Great Recession. In this program, we will explore and discuss the following learning objectives as we examine proven tactics for the design professional’s successful close of a favorable professional services contract:
1. How to minimize or preclude liability. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and this is no truer than with professional service agreements. Performing construction services can truly be risky business, but a fairly and strategically negotiated contract can do wonders to hedge and control those risks.
2. How to align exposure with insurance coverage. Insurance is the bedrock of the construction professional’s sound risk mitigation plan, but contracts can help ensure that losses are covered and do not “slip through the cracks” of a professional liability insurance policy.
3. How to increase profitability. We will discuss contractual strategies designed to secure and preserve that hard-earned fee.
4. How to maintain positive client relationships. There can be a “win-win” in contractual negotiations! Often, doing what is right and fair for the construction professional ends up being what is equally fair and appropriate for the client.