Kelly Garman, the Director of Government Affairs for ACEC California, will be our guest speaker for the April 18th Meeting. Kelly will be coming to speak to us about legislative issues ACEC is watching in California during 2018 and will help prepare our members for talking points on Legislative Visit Day in May.
Her topics will include SB 920 (LLP Renewal), SB 1804 (CEQA Streamlining) and AB 2648 (Statute of Limitations Exemption for Water Contamination). She will also provide a brief update on the SB 496 (Duty-to-Defend) advisory letter.
Legislative Brief
SB 496 Advisory Letter
Since early 2014, ACEC California worked tirelessly toward a compromise legislative solution that adequately and appropriately addressed the uninsurable risk pushed onto design professionals associated with the duty to defend.
In 2016, ACEC California led a coalition of other statewide design professional organizations (American Institute of Architects, California Council; California Council, American Society of Landscape Architects; California Geotechnical Engineering Association; Structural Engineers Association of California) to educate the legislature and advance duty to defend reform.
Signed into law by Governor Brown in April 2017, SB 496 limits responsibility of a design professional to pay for the cost of defending lawsuits against an indemnity to the degree that the design professional is at fault. It does not mean that a design professional can avoid the Duty to Defend when they are responsible for a problem, and nothing in this bill limits the design professional’s obligation to defend itself when sued. To read and download our most recent communication, please click here.
