The primary requirement written into architectural practice acts for most U.S. states is that architects are licensed only for the purpose of protecting the public health, safety, and welfare (HSW).  In Illinois where I am a licensed architect, these..

Architects are obligated to protect the public as a primary duty, but not the only duty. We wrote about architects having a fiduciary duty to the owner and the owners' right to have trust and confidence in their specifiers. All these duties exist..

New and Different

The industry is changing. The emerging revolution is that licensed architects and engineers owe a fiduciary duty to owners. This change will have dramatic effect on communications and documentation between design teams (including..

In his blog post last week, David Stutzman presented several examples illustrating ways in which architects fail in their fiduciary duty to owners, typically through covert advocacy and through not obtaining the owner's informed consent for material..

First, owners must know who the specifiers are before this question can be answered. Trust and confidence is an underlying core principle of the fiduciary duty licensed learned professionals (architects and engineers) owe to owners. As a licensed..