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The Claims-Free Architect

Pro-Demnity Insurance Company

41 episodes

5 days ago

Send us a text In a chic gallery, where a floor’s dyed-blue “granite” inserts bleed like paint, a costly mess emerges. Can an architect be liable when fake granite fooled everyone? Discover why materials can be deceiving, how testing them can save the day, and why friendships sometimes help solve disputes. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a...

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Send us a text In a chic gallery, where a floor’s dyed-blue “granite” inserts bleed like paint, a costly mess emerges. Can an architect be liable when fake granite fooled everyone? Discover why materials can be deceiving, how testing them can save the day, and why friendships sometimes help solve disputes. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a...

Show more...

Episodes (20/41)

The Claims-Free Architect

The Fake Granite Scandal: How One Architect Survived a $1.5M Lawsuit

Send us a text In a chic gallery, where a floor’s dyed-blue “granite” inserts bleed like paint, a costly mess emerges. Can an architect be liable when fake granite fooled everyone? Discover why materials can be deceiving, how testing them can save the day, and why friendships sometimes help solve disputes. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a...

1 week ago

23 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

How One Marble Threshold Taught This Architect a $450K Lesson

Send us a text In a lavish hotel suite where a marble threshold trips the host, a painful fall sparks a million-dollar claim. Can an architect be liable despite code compliance? Learn why safety is more important than style, how well-crafted details can help your defense, and why juries favor sympathy. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a ris...

2 weeks ago

21 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

When ‘Affordable’ Housing Becomes a Liability Trap

Send us a text In a rural co-op where mold and rot ruin homes, neglect and the lack of a maintenance budget, highlight the cheap construction. Can the architect be liable for this decay, years after completion? Learn why maintenance matters, how durable construction saves money in the long term, and why empathy often bests arrogance. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario arch...

3 weeks ago

23 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

When Hurt Feelings Become Lawsuits

Send us a text In a quiet neighborhood, when a client’s home addition blocks a neighbor’s cherished view and light, tensions flare into a legal showdown. Can an architect be liable for this neighbour’s loss ? Learn how miscommunications fuel disputes, and how sympathetic mediation can save the day. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’re an Ontario architect seeking guidance for a risk ma...

1 month ago

18 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

Why “Wearing Too Many Hats” Could Destroy Your Practice

Send us a text In a condo venture, an architect juggles roles as promoter, developer, builder, and financier, while cracking columns threaten structural collapse and financial ruin. Can the architect wearing multiple hats be liable for this project’s failures? Find out how “role overload” courts disaster, poor coordination sparks lawsuits, and clear contracts can provide a lifeline. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak wit...

1 month ago

25 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

Why Copying Designs Could Cost You Your License

Send us a text On a project where an architect copies another’s drawings without permission, detailing problems create leaks and fire hazards. Can an architect be liable for defects stemming from plagiarized plans? You’ll learn why copying someone else’s designs spells trouble, how skimpy reviews lead to lawsuits, and why ethics are your best defense. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’...

1 month ago

20 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

Why an Architect’s Implicit Trust in a Builder-Developer Led to a Legal Nightmare

Send us a text In a condo project where a brash developer cuts corners and ignores warnings, code violations force residents to evacuate their new homes. Can an architect be liable for these flaws when only hired to sign-off on lenders’ certificates? Discover how signing lenders’ certificates carries risks, why documenting deficiencies is your armour, and how to stand firm against rogue developers. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Li...

1 month ago

27 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

When “Following Orders” Conflicts with the Architect's Duty of Care

Send us a text In a mid-rise office project, an architect’s risky plan to start construction on a 10-storey building based on a permit for 5-storeys, grinds to a halt when the building inspector issues a stop work order. Can the architect be liable for these costly delays due to miscommunication? Learn why missing records can sink you, how translators keep you safe, and why risky actions are best avoided. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk...

2 months ago

19 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

The $530,000 Claim That Almost Ruined a Retired Architect

Send us a text In a small-town project for a charitable service club, a local contractor unilaterally swaps robust design elements for flimsy substitutes. The clubhouse ends up on the verge of collapse decades later. Can an architect be held liable for this failure when the contractor ignored their plans without anyone’s approval? Find out how refusing free reviews saves you, why contractor shortcuts spell disaster, and how to avoid liability, years down the line. Connect with Pro-Demnity: ...

2 months ago

25 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

Why Proper Site Visits Could Save Your Career

Send us a text In a lavish mansion project where a tycoon client calls the shots and takes a cavalier approach to site supervision, a fire reduces everything to ashes except for a lone fireplace. Can an architect be held liable for this blaze when they weren’t tasked with supervising construction? You’ll discover how a single site visit can burn you, why contracts with a clear scope of work are your shield, and how unnoticed fireplace flaws can create legal nightmares. Connect with Pro-Demnit...

2 months ago

21 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

The Windowless Wall and 8-Foot Ceilings: The $1M Claim That Started Without a Permit

Send us a text This “classic” episode from our first season has been re-edited for the benefit of our newest listeners, as a way to keep these evergreen lessons alive, We hope you enjoy listening to this story as much as we do presenting it to you In a small-town office project, when an eager developer starts without a permit, a faulty wall and low ceilings derail the project. Can an architect be liable for these setbacks when the client jumped the gun? Find out why permits are non-negotiable...

2 months ago

11 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

“Who’s in Charge?” – The Historic Masonry Disaster That Cost Everyone

Send us a text This “classic” episode from our first season has been re-edited for the benefit of our newest listeners, as a way to keep these evergreen lessons alive, We hope you enjoy listening to this story as much as we do presenting it to you In a historic restoration where three architects, an engineer, and a manager bombard a mason with conflicting orders, shoddy stonework triggers a costly redo. Can architects be liable for this mess when everyone’s calling the shots? Uncover why too ...

2 months ago

13 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

The Septic Field That Turned Their Dream Home into a Recurring Sewage Pit

Send us a text This “classic” episode from our first season has been re-edited for the benefit of our newest listeners, as a way to keep these evergreen lessons alive, We hope you enjoy listening to this story as much as we do presenting it to you On a hillside, a misplaced septic field turns a cozy retreat into a flood zone, and owners battle murky waters at midnight. Can an architect be liable for this deluge when they only suggested the field’s general layout, and not its specifics? Learn ...

3 months ago

8 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

“This Isn’t Florida”: The Board’s Fateful Words That Left Seniors Fainting and One Architect on the Hook

Send us a text This “classic” episode from our first season has been re-edited for the benefit of our newest listeners, as a way to keep these evergreen lessons alive, We hope you enjoy listening to this story as much as we do presenting it to you In a charitable society’s new home for the aged, where a limited budget led to an inappropriate air conditioning system, residents faint from unbearable heat. Can an architect be liable for this failure when they followed the client’s verbal instr...

3 months ago

10 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

The Claims-Free Architect Season 4 Trailer (2025)

Send us a text Have you ever faced a claim that turned your architectural vision into a legal nightmare? Do the hidden risks of your practice haunt you? A single misstep—like a contractor’s error, a language barrier, or a neighbor’s grievance—can jeopardize your reputation and livelihood. What if you could master these risks? Welcome to Season 4 of The Claims-Free Architect, brought to you by Pro-Demnity, safeguarding architects for four decades. This podcast empowers you to stay claims-free....

3 months ago

1 minute

The Claims-Free Architect

When An Improper Fireplace Installation Causes A Ski Lodge Inferno

Send us a text In a building project where an Architect’s role has been marginalized, and where the chain of command is generally confused, can the Architect still be held responsible for errors by others that lead to catastrophe? You’ll learn that even when Architects are not contracted to supervise construction, or to coordinate trades and consultants, they may inadvertently assume these responsibilities and any liability attached to them. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follo...

11 months ago

24 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

How Ignoring The Neighbour's Runoff Resulted In A Paint Shop Flood

Send us a text What sort of problems arise when Architects and Engineers are unfamiliar with the physical context of a building site? How can they work together to ensure that things such as site drainage are adequately dealt with? When Architects fail to familiarize themselves with existing site conditions, they and their consultants may be designing in a bubble. In this case, the site grading drawings were fine, but failed to note that the site was at the foot of a hill. Flooding was inevit...

11 months ago

20 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

When A Millwork Schedule Typo Leads To A $200,000 Mistake

Send us a text How can a simple typographical error in a millwork order lead to a financial and logistical nightmare, not to mention the heartbreak of trashing 180 custom-made cabinets? Architects don’t normally assume responsibility for ordering interior furnishings and fittings. But when they do, they should follow quality assurance protocols. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if yo...

12 months ago

16 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

How A Mould Expert Worsened Damage From A Faulty Sprinkler Valve

Send us a text When experts with questionable incentives make a simple problem worse by recommending drastic solutions, who is responsible for picking up the tab? You’ll learn how a faulty valve caused major water damage to a new building. And when a toxic mould infestation ensued, “experts” were called in to assess the damage. This led to a costly legal battle. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services E...

1 year ago

30 minutes

The Claims-Free Architect

When a 25-Tonne Precast Wall Crashes Down, Who's Responsible?

Send us a text When a major building component, such as an exterior wall, fails during construction, who was supposed to check the shop drawings? The cause of the near-tragedy becomes obvious, only after the wall has fallen over - it hadn’t been tied into the structure. You’ll learn how dereliction of duty triggered a catastrophic series of events. Connect with Pro-Demnity: Leave a Review Follow us on LinkedIn Access our Risk Education Library Speak with a Risk Services Expert if you’r...

1 year ago

20 minutes