Cohousing-L Mailing List: architect's liability

[Rich Lobdill (richardl]

We at Grell Cohousing here in San Luis Obispo are attempting to act as our
own developers, but we are constantly running up against our inexperience.
Due to the nature of how we are acquiring land for our project, the
architects we are using come as part of the deal.  We are in the middle of
negotiating a contract with them in which our attorney has recommended that
we request that they obtain $1 million (per occurence) liability insurance
for errors and omissions.  These architects currently do not carry this type
of insurance and have informed us that the cost of obtaining it is
prohibitive.  They feel they have operated without it just fine till now and
would prefer that we operate on trust with them.  We have done a great deal
of preliminary work with them so far and have established a good working
relationship.  We don't know if the request is unreasonable, especially for
our size (27 units)?  Are there alternatives?  I would think that this type
of insurance would be standard for them, but perhaps others are foregoing it
as well?  I would appreciate hearing back from anyone with experience in
this kind of matter, especially any architects!  Thanks.

Cecelia Lobdill