Financial Management: Annual Budgets, Revenue Forecasting and Profit Planning

The final course of this 3-part financial thriller shows how to develop annual budgets, revenue forecasts and profit plans, and leads viewers through scenario planning using financial trends and Key Financial Performance Indicators. Course takers will be ready to apply key financial concepts as they make short- and longer-term strategic, financial and operational decisions.

The presenters, Rena Klein, FAIA, and Steve Wintner, AIA Emeritus, consult with design professionals nationwide about financial management, and are skilled in distilling financial knowledge and concepts into bite-size pieces that position firm leaders to make strategic operational decisions.

Steve Wintner, AIA Emeritus, and Rena M. Klein, FAIA, ignite the screen as cash flow meets profit planning!

Presenter:
Steve L. Wintner, AIA Emeritus, and Rena M. Klein, FAIA

Pitfalls and Minefields of Specification-Writing

This course will help design firms produce higher quality specifications that respond to the increasing complexity of building projects and that minimize the adverse consequences of poorly-worded or incomplete specifications.

Course takers will develop a better understanding of and appreciation for specifications – an often-overlooked part of the Contract Documents – and learn how to craft specifications that achieve design objectives, meet code requirements, and avoid added costs, delays, construction coordination problems and disputes. .

The presenter provides specific solutions to overcome common challenges design professionals face when writing design-based, performance-based, propriety or hybrid specifications.

Presenter:
Cornelius (Kin) Dubois, FAIA, LEED AP

Risk Control in Construction Contract Administration

This course will help design professionals better understand and respond to the growing risks entailed in providing construction contract administration (CCA), how better to protect public health, safety and welfare, and compliance with building codes.

The presenter makes a compelling case for why architects and engineers must serve as both a risk manager and a project manager, and provides an easy-to-follow approach to controlling risks in a manner that enhances service effectiveness.

Viewers will gain valuable insights into how best to identify CCA areas of vulnerability, improve their ability to develop risk averse CCA procedures, and expand their skills in persuading owners to share in the numerous risks inherent in CCA.

Presenter:
James B. Atkins, FAIA, FKIA

Drawing the Line: Monitoring the Contractor’s Work Plan

This course will help design professionals understand a contractor’s exclusive responsibility for planning, organizing, coordinating, and implementing the construction work, and will describe the indicators that are evident when a contractor’s work plan is executed effectively.

Course takers will develop a better understanding of the need for dialogue, and the tools to initiate and improve communication, amongst all team members, pertaining to contractor work coordination activities.

With a wry sense of humor, the presenter discusses how to review and respond to construction coordination drawings, clarifications sketches, submittals and mock-ups, and provides valuable insights that will help guide pre-installation conferences and enforce contract requirements.

Presenter:
James B. Atkins, FAIA, FKIA

Risk Management Best Practices

This 60-minute Risk Management Best Practices course, featuring five attorneys from Morris Polich & Purdy, LLP, provides insights into reexamining business practices to keep up with the fast-changing world and turbulent economic climate.

This treasure trove of risk management and practice management advice covers: concepts and strategies to manage the legal risks provided by contractual indemnity agreements; legal risks pertaining to sustainable design; issues and procedures for securing payment on projects; strategies to avoid claims in process; and strategies for selecting the correct business entity for your practice. The course closes with a discussion of strategies for introducing Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) into your projects.

Presenter:
Penny Deihl, Esq., Ted D. Levin, Esq., Creighton Sebra, Esq., William B. Kirshenbaum, Esq., and Mehrdad Farivar, Esq., FAIA, Partners at Morris Polich & Purdy, LLP

Minimizing Risk During Construction Administration

This course provides design professionals with essential risk management practices to employ during the construction administration phase.

Attorney Michele L. Gamble provides targeted, practical tips to help minimize potential risks that architects, engineers and allied professionals face during this critical phase of projects. Topics include contracting, communicating, planning, documenting and increasing awareness of risks involved with construction administration. This course is especially relevant to design professionals who draft contracts, manage risks and/or provide construction administration-related services.

Presenter:
Michele L. Gamble, Attorney, Collins Collins Muir + Stewart, LLP

Contract Language: The Foundation of Good Business

This 60-minute risk management course presents best practices in drafting and reviewing contracts between Owners and Design Professional.

Attorney Brian Stewart examines onerous contract clauses that design professionals regularly confront and provides targeted suggestions for negotiating more balanced clauses. Topics include essential contract clauses, pros and cons of typical compensation methods, dispute resolution options and limitations of liability protections.

Presenter:
Brian K. Stewart, Attorney, Collins Collins Muir + Stewart, LLP

Arbitration and Litigation: A Trial Attorney's Perspective

This 60-minute risk management course describes how and why arbitration and civil litigation are vastly different procedural mechanisms.

Attorney Samuel Muir provides a candid comparison and dispels commonly-held myths as he provides design professionals insights into how to choose between arbitration and litigation and negotiate dispute resolution clauses that protect their interests. As arbitration agreements are subject to contract interpretation, this course will help design professionals negotiate a clause that provides many of the legal protections inherent in civil litigation.

Presenter:
Samuel J. Muir, Attorney, Collins Collins Muir + Stewart, LLP