Pro Bono Spec Work Liability

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Author Message Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 486 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 05:49 pm:    Are you still liable for specifications written for free? If you have a limited liability agreement with no fee is you liability zero? David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 969 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 07:51 pm:    I would recommend asking your attorney. My guess is that you can be held liable for writing specifications for free. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 701 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 08:40 pm:    you are still held to a professional level of care no matter what you are paid. I used to do a fair amount of pro bono work and I generally tried to get a hold harmless letter from the client for those projects, but I found that owners/administrators of those projects often had a sense that we were doing (the Lord's, the greater good, the public good, the "right thing", or whatever the recipient thought of themselves as representing) work, and that they had HIGHER expectations of perfection than a more sophisticated client who was used to paying for services. The other issue with a lot of the pro bono work I did was that it was often constructed by amateurs who disregarded the documents and they could really do some damage.. and then blame you. See your attorney and get a nice little hold-harmless clause in there. Anonymous   Posted on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 08:30 pm:    I believe that some states have laws that protect certain "professionals" providing pro bono services, under certain circumstances. You need to check your state's statutes. David Axt, AIA, CCS, CSI Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 970 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 12:58 pm:    Jerome, "No good deed ever goes unpunished." Why would you want to give away your services for free? I have found that people don't value or respect free stuff/services. If it was any good it would have had a price on it. So there must be something wrong with it. Plus if your other clients find out that you are giving it away, they are going to want the same price. Marc C Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 270 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 01:01 pm:    Let's see, Why would I do this: Community Service Civic Pride Help out a small non-profit that helps people If it was all for money, It would be a pretty sad world. Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 161 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 01:21 pm:    Marc, I agree. I don't go around advertising "free specs", but I have had a couple of clients approach me on projects they were doing pro bono and asked if I could help. In my case, they were both Women's shelters. I don't think I had a contract, just a "handshake". Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 702 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Friday, January 18, 2008 - 01:47 pm:    all my pro bono work was battered women's shelters, too (6 of them over the years). I did have a contract and after one of those clients got very nitpicky about their documents, I started with the hold harmless agreements. I supported the cause, and knew of the budget issues, but I also didn't want to have continual callbacks and once I had to remind the client that they weren't paying me for the service and that my work didn't go on indefinitely. I think one of their staffers thought she could do a better job and ended up rewriting my specs, so not only did I do work for free, but it was thrown away! oh well... James M. Sandoz, AIA, CSI, CDT, LEED AP Senior Member Username: jsandoz Post Number: 26 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 09:41 am:    I agree with Marc's reasons and add this one to them, because it is the right thing to do. Let us direct our philosophical discussion of that last reason to another thread. As Anne pointed out, jerks will always be with us but it is not for them that I make charitable gestures. I do it for the greater number of folks who truly appreciate the effort. Goethe wrote: “There are nine requisites for contented living: HEALTH enough to make work a pleasure; WEALTH enough to support your needs; STRENGTH enough to battle with difficulties and forsake them; GRACE enough to confess your sins and overcome them; PATIENCE enough to toil until some good is accomplished; CHARITY enough to see some good in your neighbor; LOVE enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others; FAITH enough to make real the things of God; HOPE enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.” Our contentment has to come from doing the deed and knowing it was good. It should not come from the pat on the back we get for doing it. Ron Beard CCS Senior Member Username: rm_beard_ccs Post Number: 256 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 10:28 pm:    I don't ever recall producing a pro bono specification**. I have however spent much time with Habitat for Humanity assisting their "technical" committees on material selection, proper application of materials, and building technology. On one occasion, I provided them with a detailed inspection and condition survey and report of an old house which was donated to them. They wanted to review a detailed report to determine the buildings overall soundness prior to acceptance due to the overall poor condition. They accepted the house and it worked out well for each party [HFH, the donor, and the final recipient]. Yes, and I have been known to swing a hammer. It is very humbling to find out, however, that Mr. Know-It-All may know what to do but comes up short in actually BEING ABLE TO DO IT SKILLFULLY. This is especially true with plastering. _____ ** Unless you count the specifications I have written but have never been able to collect the fees. That was back in my informative days. Now, I just threaten to file a Mechanics lien on the project. It has worked better than threatening to file suit. Most architect don't want their clients to find out that they are shafting their consultants. George A. Everding, AIA, CSI, CCS, CCCA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 392 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 11:36 pm:    Some comments: I had meant to include this on the other recent thread about liability. None of this keeps you from being sued. As my lawyer told me when I was setting up my business, "Anybody can sue you anytime for anything". That's not to say that all lawsuits have merit and will proceed very far, but it's pretty hard to stop someone from filing a suit in the first place. As far as "hold harmless", there is a distinction between hold harmless agreements and indemnification which I don't remember right now. One of them means the Owner agrees to defend you in any and all suits, and the other is a more limited coverage. I suspect the hold harmless as Anne mentions is the more comprehensive. Regarding the state laws protecting professionals providing services in certain circumstances, the so-called good samaritan laws, I do know that here in Missouri, we have a program to volunteer after a disaster (earthquake, for example) to do initial evaluations of structures. In that instance, we were immune from liability. But I think most good samaritan laws apply only in emergency situations. I doubt that merely providing free services to your favorite local charity would qualify for a similar immunity. Ultimately, when you render professional services you have liability issues, whether or not you are paid for them. And in reality, probably you are always paid for them, most often in cash, but as pointed out above, sometimes just in the satisfaction of doing good.