STANDARD OF CARE FOR - Foundation

FPA-SC-18-0 Issued for Website Publishing

Standard of Care for Engineers and Other Professionals Working in Texas Foundation Performance Association - Structural Committee

15 May 14 Page 1 of 30

STANDARD OF CARE

FOR

ENGINEERS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS WORKING IN TEXAS

by The Structural Committee

of The Foundation Performance Association

Houston, Texas



Document # FPA-SC-18-0

ISSUE HISTORY (Some internal subcommittee issues omitted when published)

Rev #

Date

Description

Subcommittee Chair(s)

A 26 Jan 11 For Subcommittee Review William E.

AA 7 Nov 13 For FPA Peer Review

Morfey

BB 30 Jan 14 For Subcommittee Review

CC 4 Feb 14 For FPA Peer Review

DD 10 Apr 14 For Subcommittee Review

0

15 May 14

Issued for Website Publishing

Subcommittee Members Adam Bakir Francisco

Carrillo David Karimi Ron Kelm Lucas Mauro Michael Skoller Robert Taylor Raghu Dass Andrew Martin

FPA-SC-18-0 Issued for Website Publishing

Standard of Care for Engineers and Other Professionals Working in Texas Foundation Performance Association - Structural Committee

15 May 14 Page 2 of 30

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE ................................................................................................................... 4

1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 5

2.0 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE ......... 8

2.1 THE "REASONABLE MAN" ................................................................... 8 2.2 THE ELEMENTS OF NEGLIGENCE....................................................... 9

3.0 THE PRESENCE OF DAMAGE DOES NOT AUTOMATICALLY INDICATE NEGLIGENCE .......................................................................................................... 11

4.0 DEFINITION OF STANDARD OF CARE .......................................................... 12

4.1

4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3

LITERATURE ANALYSIS ..................................................................... 12

Role of the Jury Charge in Trial....................................................................... 12 Texas Pattern Jury Charge 60.1; Nonmedical Professional's Degree of Care. 12 ASFE Definition .............................................................................................. 13

5.0 PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING STANDARD OF CARE ........................... 14

5.1 SURVEY METHODS ............................................................................. 14

5.1.1 Survey Steps .................................................................................................. 15 5.1.2 Costs .............................................................................................................. 15

5.2 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN .................................................................. 16

5.2.1 The Invitation .................................................................................................. 16 5.2.2 Screening the Respondent.............................................................................. 18 5.2.3 The Introduction .............................................................................................. 18 5.2.4 Educating the Respondent .............................................................................. 19 5.2.5 Length of Survey............................................................................................. 21 5.2.6 Instructions ..................................................................................................... 21 5.2.7 Flow ................................................................................................................ 21 5.2.8 Question design .............................................................................................. 21 5.2.8.1 Avoid jargon, abbreviations and acronyms ................................................. 21 5.2.8.2 Use simple, direct language ....................................................................... 21 5.2.8.3 Do not ask leading questions ..................................................................... 22 5.2.8.4 Don't Know/Undecided Responses ............................................................ 22 5.2.8.5 Wording...................................................................................................... 22 5.2.9 Pretest ............................................................................................................ 23

5.3 SAMPLING ............................................................................................ 23

5.4 ANONYMITY ......................................................................................... 23

5.5 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS ..................................................................... 24

6.0 EXAMPLES ....................................................................................................... 25

6.1

6.1.1 6.1.2 6.1.3 6.1.4

EXAMPLE #1 ........................................................................................ 25

Objective of Questionnaire .............................................................................. 25 Establish Qualifications ................................................................................... 25 Invitation ......................................................................................................... 25 Questionnaire for Example #1......................................................................... 26

FPA-SC-18-0 Issued for Website Publishing

Standard of Care for Engineers and Other Professionals Working in Texas Foundation Performance Association - Structural Committee

15 May 14 Page 3 of 30

6.2

6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.3 6.2.4

EXAMPLE #2 ........................................................................................ 27

Objective of Questionnaire .............................................................................. 27 Establish Qualifications ................................................................................... 27 Invitation ......................................................................................................... 27 Questionnaire for Example #2......................................................................... 28

7.0 SURVEY LEVELS ............................................................................................. 30

FPA-SC-18-0 Issued for Website Publishing

Standard of Care for Engineers and Other Professionals Working in Texas Foundation Performance Association - Structural Committee

15 May 14 Page 4 of 30

PREFACE

This document was written by the Structural Committee and has been peer reviewed and accepted by the Foundation Performance Association (FPA). This document is published as FPA-SC-18 Revision 0 (i.e., FPA-SC-18-0) and is made freely available to the public at so all may have access to the information. To ensure this document remains as current as possible, it may be periodically updated under the same document number but with higher revision numbers such as 1, 2, etc.

The Structural Committee is a standing committee of the Foundation Performance Association. During the course of writing this document, the Structural Committee was chaired by Ron Kelm and had an active membership of 35 to 55. The Structural Committee sanctioned this paper on 24 February 2010 and formed an ad hoc subcommittee to write this document with attorney Bob Newman as chair. Mr. Newman fell ill shortly afterwards before the subcommittee began meeting. The Structural Committee then appointed attorney William E. Morfey to assume the chair position. The subcommittee's chair and members are listed on the cover sheet of this document and are considered this document's co-authors.

Suggestions for improvement of this document shall be directed to the current chair of the Structural Committee. If sufficient comments are received to warrant a revision, the Structural Committee may form a new subcommittee to revise this document. If the revised document successfully passes FPA peer review, it will be published on the FPA website, superseding the previous revision.

The intended audiences for the use of this document are engineers, architects, surveyors, inspectors, builders, building owners, repair contractors, attorneys, and others that may be involved in the design, construction, inspection, forensic evaluation, and litigation related to structures and other facilities located in the state of Texas.

This document was created with generously donated time in an effort to advancing the knowledge, performance, and standards of engineering, construction, and repairs related to foundations, soils, and structures. The text in this document represents the opinions of a majority of the subcommittee members and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of every subcommittee member or FPA member at the time of, or since, this document's publication. The FPA and its members make no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information contained herein and will not be liable for any damages, including consequential damages, resulting from the use of this document. Each project should be investigated for its individual characteristics to permit appropriate application of the material contained herein. This document is intended to provide a general discussion of relevant legal concepts, but it is not intended to provide legal advice. The FPA strongly recommends that an appropriately credentialed legal professional be consulted to provide specific legal advice on any pertinent matter.

Please refer to the FPA's website at for other information pertaining to this publication and other FPA publications.

FPA-SC-18-0 Issued for Website Publishing

Standard of Care for Engineers and Other Professionals Working in Texas Foundation Performance Association - Structural Committee

15 May 14 Page 5 of 30

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Ordinary care in the engineering/construction context is that degree of care that professionals of ordinary prudence would use under the same or similar circumstances. This level of care is often referred as the "Standard of Care." Texas courts have defined the method to determine whether professionals such as engineers, architects, and surveyors have exercised ordinary care. The goal of the subcommittee in writing this document is to provide professionals with a reliable methodology to determine their applicable standard of care. Demonstrating conformance to the standard of care is paramount whenever questions arise concerning the quality of the professional's work product.

The American Heritage College Dictionary (3rd Ed.) defines a "standard" as "an acknowledged measure of comparison for quantitative or qualitative value; a criterion." In considering the various aspects of the standard of care, as a threshold issue one might reasonably wonder about the source of the standard itself.

In actuality, there are four potential sources for the applicable standard of care: 1) the agreement between the parties to a project; 2) legislative standards (e.g., statutes, building codes, ordinances); 3) standards specified by an executive authority (such as a professional governing body or administrative agency), and; 4) standards developed by courts. The first three sources are relatively easy to account for, in the sense that they tend to be contained in discrete documents. All one needs to do is read a contract, review a book of codes, or study the applicable professional rules in order to find out what they say, if anything, about the particular matter at hand. The fourth source tends to be more problematic and thus is the focus of this paper.

Like most other jurisdictions throughout the country, Texas courts rely in part on a "common law system" for deciding cases. The term "common law" refers to the legal rules developed and handed down by courts over time, and can be contrasted with the laws enacted by a legislature or the orders implemented by an executive authority. The goal of a common law system is for courts to treat cases with similar facts consistently. Thus, under a common law scheme, courts are generally bound to follow the precedential decisions of previous courts. However, revisions in the common law can occur under compelling conditions. Generally such conditions arise when the circumstances in society (be they economic, social, technological, political, or otherwise) require the courts to adapt their decisions to be relevant to the current times. In this way, the common law evolves over time, but almost always in gradual, well-reasoned steps.

The common law is very important in Texas, because many fundamental areas of law, such as property rights, contracts, and torts, do not exist by virtue of legislative action or executive rule making. Instead these areas of law rely heavily (though not exclusively) on the common law for their existence.

Although exceptions can occur (and must be identified on a case-by-case basis by the professional, perhaps in consultation with an attorney), it is generally prudent to work through

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