Public Agencies Face New Restrictions in Contracting with Design Professionals

With the enactment of AB 573 (Wolk), many California public agencies face new restrictions on the indemnity protections they can require when engaging design professionals.

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New law limits design professionals' indemnity obligations to public agencies

The Governor signed a new law today which limits a public agency's ability to impose indemnity obligations on design professionals.  AB 573 (Wolk) creates a new Civil Code section 2782.8 which makes indemnity clauses imposed by public agencies on design professionals (including architects, landscape architects, engineers and land surveyors) unenforceable except to the extent that they are based on the negligence, recklessness or willful misconduct of the design professional.  Click here to see the text of the bill.  Design professionals will obviously find this to be welcome news.  It may also clarify an issue which is often a source of conflict between public agency owners and design professionals.

Third Circuit Court of Appeals holds that state's ability to contract for private architectural and engineering services mandated by California constitution

On June 13th, in Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California, Inc. v. Professional Engineers in California Government, (2006) 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 874, the Third District Court of Appeal struck down provisions of a union agreement between the state and civil service engineers limiting the state’s right to contract with private engineers, holding that the provisions conflict with Proposition 35 and are unconstitutional.

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