Another one. I did the engineering calculations for a small chain store to be built in Truckee CA. A couple years later I got a call from the Truckee building department telling me that my calcs were wrong and that many beams were undersized. The snow load I used was less than half of the...
In some jurisdictions it is important not only to have engineering calculations, but to have them in the order that the building department wants them. A client of mine in Contra Costa County was also doing a project in San Francisco, an apartment building. The engineer for that project was...
bylar - As I see it two things worked in your favor. Primary - you were a sole practitioner. You weren't signing for the work of an inexperienced person with no financial responsibility for his work. And second, you weren't "deep pockets" attractive to a contingency fee lawyer. Big projects...
Maybe my situation is different because I am a sole practitioner. No firm to protect. And my net worth is pretty low when compared to the net worth of all the professional members of a firm. What my "firm" does was done by ME. Nobody else.
You're correct that small jobs can result in very BIG claims. But I've been in private pratice since 1964, except for a 5 year hiatus, and have had 4 claims, two of which were completely fraudulant, one that cost me $2000 for taking the word of my client (suit by HIS customer), and one that...
Nothing! My jobs are all small. Very few fees over $5000, most under $2000. I've made a couple mistakes and I paid them. Both together amounted to less than a couple years premium. Much of the early years of my practice I also surveyed and did minor subs. when I was doing minor subs. But I...
I am "only" a civil, but I had been specializing in engineering calculations for single family residences and additions until I retired in 2005 at 70 years old and sailed to Mexico. I came back after 4 years and many of my old clients bugged me to go back into engineering. I did. My clients...