Geotechnical News December 2010
43
ASFE NEWS
40 Organizations Now Endorse
Recommended Practices…
Forty organizations now endorse
Recommended Practices for Design
Professionals Engaged as Experts in
the Resolution of Construction Industry
Disputes
, an annotated list of 13
“shoulds and should-nots” originally
developed by the Interprofessional
Council on Environmental Design
(ICED), an “umbrella organization”
also including, among others, ASFE,
the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE), National Society
of Professional Engineers (NSPE),
American Council of Engineering
Companies (ACEC), and TheAmerican
Institute of Architects (AIA), all of
which are endorsers.
ASFE recognized the need for the
document and spearheaded its devel-
opment. ICED assigned ASFE respon-
sibility for the document’s publication
and management, as well as gathering
additional endorsers. Thirty-one addi-
tional U.S.-national organizations have
endorsed the document. They include
such well-known organizations as: the
American Society of Mechanical En-
gineers (ASME); American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air-condi-
tioning Engineers (ASHRAE); Illumi-
nating Engineering Society of North
America (IES); Society of Manufactur-
ing Engineers (SME); and American
Association of Engineering Societies
(AAES). The four remaining endorsers
include an international association of
national engineering organizations (the
International Federation of Consult-
ing Engineers) and three U.S. regional
groups.
According to
ASFE President
James W. “Jay” Martin, P.E.
(AMEC),
Recommended Practices
…
is believed to have received more
construction-industry
organization
endorsements than any other similar
document or position statement ever
developed. Created by ICED in 1988,
Recommended Practices
… has been
used extensively in legal proceedings,
especially in matters involving the
standard of care. According to ASFE
Executive Vice President John P. Bach-
ner, “To find a design professional neg-
ligent, a trier of fact – a judge or a jury
– has to believe that the design profes-
sional failed to uphold the standard of
care. But first the trier of fact has to
decide what the standard of care actu-
ally was at the time of the incident in
question. As it so happens, the standard
of care is a moving target. It’s what’s
commonly done by peer profession-
als operating in a given area at a given
time. Practices evolve, however. What
is common today may have been un-
heard of just five years ago.”
Bachner explained that courts al-
most always require an expert witness
to explain the standard of care in terms
the trier of fact – usually a jury – can
readily understand. He went on to say,
“All too often, however, experts testify
about the standard of care based on
what they would have done or what a
book says to do, and either or both of
these measures may be seriously out of
sync with reality. Experts need to con-
duct research to know what the stan-
dard of care was at the time in ques-
tion, and 40 prestigious organizations
concur unanimously. Experts who are
cross-examined need to be able to ex-
plain how they reached their opinion
about the standard of care. This is par-
ticularly important given that experts
are insulated from liability for just
about anything they say. This protec-
tion can encourage some experts to al-
ter their testimony to suit the needs of
their clients.”
Some of the other issues addressed
in the document include conflicts of
interest, expert qualifications, research
methods and integrity, illustrative de-
vices, and confidentiality.
ASFE’s First Webinar a Smash!
More than 90 ASFE-Member Firm
offices tied into ASFE’s first webinar.
Developed by the New Leaders’
Committee, it featured
Terracon Vice
President/General Counsel Michael
J. “Mike” Yost, Esq.,
addressing
the issue of client-focused contract
negotiations. Early results of the
participant survey showed an overall
ranking of 9 of a possible 10 points!
This being our first webinar, we are
looking into several methods of mak-
ing the material available to those who
missed the initial webcast. We’re also
looking into additional topics to cover,
with an eye to making each webinar
about one hour long, for showing near
the noon hour.
Do you have some sug-
gestions or requests?
If so, PLEASE
address them to us at
