What Is a Design Professional’s Standard of Care?

In The School Board Of Broward County vs. Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville, No. 4D11-4808 (Fla. 4^th DCA, 2014), the School Board of Broward County entered into a contract with an Architectural firm (“the Architect”) to perform design services for the renovation of a high school. During the preliminary design phase, in which the plans were being developed for bidding by contractors, the Architect and the School Board’s peer reviewer disagreed over a portion of the initial design plans. Specifically, the peer reviewer thought that a third floor balcony on one of the buildings required construction of a staircase as an emergency exit in case of a fire. The Architect disagreed and suggested an alternative solution to meet the fire code standards that did not require the construction of a staircase.  Read On . . .