Navigating Ethics, Liability, and Contracts in Cold-Formed Steel Delegated Design

Earn 1 PDH

Ethical decision making is increasingly intertwined with legal responsibility and contractual obligations. This presentation explores the critical intersection of engineering ethics, liability, and contracts, offering insights tailored to professionals working with cold-formed steel and delegated design.

Drawing on the presenter’s dual background in design and legal counsel, this presentation will examine:

1. Specifications and Their Binding Nature: Understanding how technical specifications function within contract documents and what it means to deviate from them.
2. Contractual Clarity: The implications of signed vs. unsigned contracts, verbal agreements, and the enforceability of various forms of documentation.
3. Professional Liability: How ethical lapses and technical oversights can translate into legal exposure, especially in delegated design scenarios.
4. Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): Their role in protecting intellectual property and sensitive project information, and common pitfalls engineers should avoid.
5. Scope Creep and Change Orders: Managing project changes ethically and legally, and how to document and communicate them effectively.
6. Delegated Design Responsibilities: Clarifying roles and liabilities when structural engineers are tasked with design elements under the direction of other professionals.
7. Risk Management Strategies: Practical steps engineers and firms can take to mitigate liability while maintaining ethical standards.

This presentation will provide actionable guidance for engineers, project managers, and technical leaders, helping them navigate the gray areas between ethics and enforceable obligations. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how to protect themselves and their firms while upholding the integrity of the profession.

Learning Objectives

• Understanding the Weight of Specifications.
• Clarifying Contractual Obligations and Documentation.
• Identifying Ethical and Legal Risks in Delegated Design.
• Manage Confidentiality and Intellectual Property.
• Implement Risk Management Strategies

Michael Castleman
McClure

Michael Castleman is a legal and structural design professional with McClure, where he has leveraged and applied his dual expertise in engineering practice and legal frameworks. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Missouri and is a licensed attorney in both Missouri and Iowa. He has worked at McClure for the past four years, initially serving as a structural designer in the Enclosures and Interiors group. During that time, he led cold-formed steel design efforts on a wide range of projects nationwide, including apartment complexes, commercial buildings, load-bearing systems, and architecturally complex curved structures. Michael now serves as McClure’s in-house legal counsel, where he oversees risk management, compliance and claim management, contract review and negotiation, and other legal matters critical to engineering practice. By integrating legal insight with engineering expertise as with his unique dual background, Michael provides valuable insight into the intersection of technical design, ethics, and legal responsibility.

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