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Description
Architects sometimes get blindsided by accusations of professional error, omission or negligence. They struggle with the hidden risks that come with running an architectural practice, as it can be devastating—professionally and personally—to invest countless hours in a project, only to face one claim that threatens everything.
Well, what if one could navigate these risks with confidence? What if architects could protect their practice and reputation while continuing to do what they love?
Welcome to "The Claims-Free Architect", formerly known as “Architects’ Claims Stories”, renamed to better reflect the podcast’s mission. Brought to you by
Pro-Demnity, a professional liability insurance company that has been protecting and defending architects for nearly four decades.
This season, every week for 14 weeks, you’ll hear stories that delve into real-world situations faced by architects. From these actual experiences, architects will gain the insights needed to identify potential risks and learn how to manage, minimize, mitigate, avoid or even accept them, and ultimately, better protect your architectural practice from claims.
If you’re a licensed, practicing architect, an architectural practice owner, an architectural intern, or a member of an architectural team, and you’re looking to avoid professional pitfalls, subscribe to "The Claims-Free Architect" wherever you get your podcasts. By tuning in, you’ll be well on your way to understanding risk and keeping your practice claims-free.
***The Claims-Free Architect Podcast is recognized by Canadian Architect magazine as one of the Best podcasts and films for Canadian architects: 2024 Edition ***
43 Episodes
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Send us a text In a co-op where homes tilt like carnival funhouses, unstable soil wreaks havoc, can an architect be liable when a soils report fails to warn of impending danger? Discover how site remediation can create problems, how appearances can be deceiving, how surveys can save you, and how shortcuts can cause projects to flounder. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ont...
Send us a text During the renovation of a historic building, intended to serve as a banquet hall, ancient walls crumble under new loads and chaos halts construction. Can an architect be liable when experts vouched for stability? Uncover why old stones betray, how inspections save you, and why consultants matter. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance...
Send us a text In a chic gallery, where a floor’s dyed-blue “granite” inserts bleed like paint, a costly mess emerges. Can an architect be liable when fake granite fooled everyone? Discover why materials can be deceiving, how testing them can save the day, and why friendships sometimes help solve disputes. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a...
Send us a text In a lavish hotel suite where a marble threshold trips the host, a painful fall sparks a million-dollar claim. Can an architect be liable despite code compliance? Learn why safety is more important than style, how well-crafted details can help your defense, and why juries favor sympathy. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a ris...
Send us a text In a rural co-op where mold and rot ruin homes, neglect and the lack of a maintenance budget, highlight the cheap construction. Can the architect be liable for this decay, years after completion? Learn why maintenance matters, how durable construction saves money in the long term, and why empathy often bests arrogance. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario arch...
Send us a text In a quiet neighborhood, when a client’s home addition blocks a neighbor’s cherished view and light, tensions flare into a legal showdown. Can an architect be liable for this neighbour’s loss ? Learn how miscommunications fuel disputes, and how sympathetic mediation can save the day. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a risk ma...
Send us a text In a condo venture, an architect juggles roles as promoter, developer, builder, and financier, while cracking columns threaten structural collapse and financial ruin. Can the architect wearing multiple hats be liable for this project’s failures? Find out how “role overload” courts disaster, poor coordination sparks lawsuits, and clear contracts can provide a lifeline. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak wit...
Send us a text On a project where an architect copies another’s drawings without permission, detailing problems create leaks and fire hazards. Can an architect be liable for defects stemming from plagiarized plans? You’ll learn why copying someone else’s designs spells trouble, how skimpy reviews lead to lawsuits, and why ethics are your best defense. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’...
Send us a text In a condo project where a brash developer cuts corners and ignores warnings, code violations force residents to evacuate their new homes. Can an architect be liable for these flaws when only hired to sign-off on lenders’ certificates? Discover how signing lenders’ certificates carries risks, why documenting deficiencies is your armour, and how to stand firm against rogue developers. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Li...
Send us a text In a mid-rise office project, an architect’s risky plan to start construction on a 10-storey building based on a permit for 5-storeys, grinds to a halt when the building inspector issues a stop work order. Can the architect be liable for these costly delays due to miscommunication? Learn why missing records can sink you, how translators keep you safe, and why risky actions are best avoided. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk...
Send us a text In a small-town project for a charitable service club, a local contractor unilaterally swaps robust design elements for flimsy substitutes. The clubhouse ends up on the verge of collapse decades later. Can an architect be held liable for this failure when the contractor ignored their plans without anyone’s approval? Find out how refusing free reviews saves you, why contractor shortcuts spell disaster, and how to avoid liability, years down the line. Connect with Pro-Demnity: ...
Send us a text In a lavish mansion project where a tycoon client calls the shots and takes a cavalier approach to site supervision, a fire reduces everything to ashes except for a lone fireplace. Can an architect be held liable for this blaze when they weren’t tasked with supervising construction? You’ll discover how a single site visit can burn you, why contracts with a clear scope of work are your shield, and how unnoticed fireplace flaws can create legal nightmares. Connect with Pro-Demnit...
Send us a text Have you ever faced a claim that turned your architectural vision into a legal nightmare? Do the hidden risks of your practice haunt you? A single misstep—like a contractor’s error, a language barrier, or a neighbor’s grievance—can jeopardize your reputation and livelihood. What if you could master these risks? Welcome to Season 4 of The Claims-Free Architect, brought to you by Pro-Demnity, safeguarding architects for four decades. This podcast empowers you to stay claims-free....
Send us a text In a building project where an Architect’s role has been marginalized, and where the chain of command is generally confused, can the Architect still be held responsible for errors by others that lead to catastrophe? You’ll learn that even when Architects are not contracted to supervise construction, or to coordinate trades and consultants, they may inadvertently assume these responsibilities and any liability attached to them. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follo...
Send us a text What sort of problems arise when Architects and Engineers are unfamiliar with the physical context of a building site? How can they work together to ensure that things such as site drainage are adequately dealt with? When Architects fail to familiarize themselves with existing site conditions, they and their consultants may be designing in a bubble. In this case, the site grading drawings were fine, but failed to note that the site was at the foot of a hill. Flooding was inevit...
Send us a text How can a simple typographical error in a millwork order lead to a financial and logistical nightmare, not to mention the heartbreak of trashing 180 custom-made cabinets? Architects don’t normally assume responsibility for ordering interior furnishings and fittings. But when they do, they should follow quality assurance protocols. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if yo...
Send us a text When experts with questionable incentives make a simple problem worse by recommending drastic solutions, who is responsible for picking up the tab? You’ll learn how a faulty valve caused major water damage to a new building. And when a toxic mould infestation ensued, “experts” were called in to assess the damage. This led to a costly legal battle. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services E...
Send us a text When a major building component, such as an exterior wall, fails during construction, who was supposed to check the shop drawings? The cause of the near-tragedy becomes obvious, only after the wall has fallen over - it hadn’t been tied into the structure. You’ll learn how dereliction of duty triggered a catastrophic series of events. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’r...
Send us a text If an Architect provides better quality cladding materials than those the client requested, can the Client order those materials to be replaced at the Architect’s expense? You’ll learn that unreasonable clients and guilt-ridden architects can make strange bedfellows and their relationship dynamics may lead to unnecessarily expensive lawsuits. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services ...
Send us a text When a recently renovated, beloved heritage building burns to the ground with no discernible cause, who is responsible? Even forensic fire experts may have trouble pinpointing the cause of a fire, but if the architects are contracted to perform site reviews, they will be in the “line of fire,” regardless of the actual source of the original spark. There are, however, precautions that Architects can take to mitigate the risks. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review ...
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