Today is the 31st day of the month and this is my 29th blog of the month, so I've missed my 30-day blog challenge by one day and one post. Bottom line for me: I'm pleased to discover that I had the discipline to come this close when I usually max out at only one post each week to 10 days.
When I committed to the 30-day blog challenge, I asked my friends for topic suggestions, and Barbara Shuck asked:
"Are there words that put us in a 'legal' predicament... for example, I've heard that we should not use the word 'expert'... True? Untrue? Advice?
This is an interesting question. I think there are a number of words we shouldn't use, especially in our qualifications packages and proposals. But whether or not the use of such words put us in a "legal predicament" is not really for me to judge. I have only ever been given a "don't use" instruction for one specific word.
Many years ago, I worked at an A/E industry firm for which construction inspection was an important part of their business. At one point, I was asked to stop talking about "construction inspection" unless the RFQ/RFP specifically used that phrase. Instead, I was to use the phrase "construction observation." The explanation I received was that the former implied a much more detailed look and evaluation of how the project was being built, as well as a detailed comparison of the work and the construction drawings, so we should not use the word "inspection" unless we were actually providing that level of service detail.
For myself, I always question the use of the word "insure." I don't think an A/E firm should ever talk about insuring anything, unless Lloyd's of London or some other insurance underwriter is on their proposal team to write an insurance policy.
Architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, surveyors, general contractors, construction managers and environmental scientists can "assure" (promise, give peace of mind) or "ensure" (make sure) a client that something will be or is being done. But these firms do not issue insurance policies.
I think the three most important things to remember are the following:
- Don't promise something you can't do (like providing an insurance policy);
- Try to understand what your words mean, what they imply and what the listener or reader might infer from them; and
- Be as clear as you possible can about your scope: what it includes and what it doesn't include (I have written about this idea before.
Always remember that a huge portion of the lawsuits in the A/E/C industry—possibly more than half of them—stem from a client who has inaccurate or incomplete expectations of what your scope includes and what it doesn't include. If you are proposing to perform "A" and "B" but not "C," make sure the client understands that "C" is not part of the scope.
If you are capable of performing "C," you might propose to do it as an additional service for an additional negotiated fee. But make sure the client does not think "C" is automatically included just because you are doing "A" and "B" or you might wind up in court when that simple misunderstanding turns into an ugly confrontation.